


Darling, Don't You Ever Grow Up

by notoriouslgbt



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Anxiety, Diapers, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Fluff, Littles Are Known, Non-Sexual Age Play, Stuffed Toys
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:14:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 23,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27051001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notoriouslgbt/pseuds/notoriouslgbt
Summary: In which Lena has a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day and Kara just so happens to find out what she does to cope.
Relationships: Alex Danvers & Kara Danvers, Alex Danvers & Lena Luthor, Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, Samantha "Sam" Arias & Kara Danvers, Samantha "Sam" Arias & Lena Luthor, Samantha "Sam" Arias/Alex Danvers
Comments: 95
Kudos: 393





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Please read the tags. If this isn't for you, hit the back button. Don't leave mean comments or hate. I'll just delete it.

Lena should have known today was going to be a  _ terrible _ day. She should’ve known the moment she woke up to realize she had slept through her alarm, leaving her with only a few minutes to rush through a shower and hurriedly get dressed before racing out the door. She should’ve known when she got out of that first meeting (after arriving three minutes late) to find her blouse had been buttoned incorrectly, and her skirt was wrinkled. (Thank God she kept spare outfits in her office for exactly these occasions). Lena should’ve known today would be terrible when some of her board members met with her to try and stage a coup, accusing her of negligence and incompetence and inventing several salacious lies, heavily implying they were more than willing to take these lies to the press if she didn’t step down as CEO. Lena should’ve known the day would be terrible because she had to stay in the office dealing with the fallout of their insubordination, watching more and more paperwork pile on her desk as several of her engineers were sent to urgent care after a malfunctioning prototype caused severe burns and lung damage from smoke inhalation. 

Lena should have known today would be so terrible that she wouldn’t get home until well past midnight, feeling fuzzy and restless and so damn  _ small _ and out of control. She hadn’t eaten all day, but she knew that wasn’t the cause of this feeling. Guilt and shame coursed through her, but only for a moment before she felt herself slipping. Dimly in the back of her mind, Lena heard a voice calling her  _ weak, pathetic, unworthy of the Luthor name _ , but that restless buzz in her ears drowned it out. 

Without another thought, Lena kicked off her heels and let her thumb find its place between her lips, rubbing her eyes with a sleepy fist. She stumbled into her bedroom to put on her favorite pajamas (mint green with light blue polka dots) and grab the pink soft blanket and raggedy old teddy bear, both of which were kept in a locked box under her bed. Now that she had both her favorite jammies and her comfort items, Lena made her way back out to the living room.

She was exhausted, but if she went to bed right now, she’d have nightmares about the fire in her labs, her injured employees, and the mean words the board members had yelled at her. Lena felt her eyes watering just  _ remembering _ the incident; she  _ hated _ when people yelled at her. So, Lena put off going to bed by turning on her TV, logging into her second, secret Netflix account and putting on a cartoon with colorful, happy animals solving problems in their lives and battling mean bullies. Lena sat on the floor in front of her coffee table and pulled out her coloring books.

Today had been a terrible day, that was true, but there was no reason it had to end terribly, she figured.

“But what if something’s wrong?” Kara continued. Alex could hear the pout in her voice from the kitchen where she was pouring herself a glass of water. It was past midnight and Kara had flown into their living room, frantic over Lena ignoring her calls. Sam had already tried to explain the shitty day Lena had been having, but that only seemed to worry Kara more. “Like, she forgot to eat or drink water and she got so dizzy that she passed out and hit her head! Or she’s so exhausted that she’s about to drive home even though she’s probably going to fall asleep while driving. Or—”

“Kara,” Sam cut off sternly, some of her Mom-voice peeking through. Despite the fact that Kara wasn’t feeling little right now, she responded, pausing both her pacing and her rambling to look at Sam with those big, worried eyes. Sam got off the couch and put her hands on Kara’s shoulders, squeezing them comfortingly. “Lena is probably just asleep. Jess stayed until Lena left and texted me that Lena called her driver around half past eleven. She’s definitely home by now, and she didn’t drive. Her phone might have died, or something. Or she passed out after the long, horrible day she’s had. She is  _ fine _ , little star.” Kara blushed the way she always did when Sam or Alex called her one of her little pet names when she wasn’t dropped.

“But if her day was so terrible, she might like someone to come visit her and give her a hug,” Kara said after a moment, half a question and half a hopeful statement. It was no secret to anyone (except for Lena, and perhaps Kara) that Kara was hopelessly in love with Lena. 

“I don’t know, little star. Lena sometimes likes to lick her wounds in private. Unwind in her own way,” Sam said carefully. While it was clear that Lena was both an introvert who needed time alone to recharge as well as a little who desperately needed someone to take care of her, Lena had yet to take the test to confirm her status. At twenty-four, Lena still had some time before her twenty-sixth birthday, at which point she’d be fined for every day she still hadn’t taken the test.

The test was a relatively new convention, adopted within the last seventy years to make things easier. While people had always seemed to fall into these same categories (dominant, submissive, caretaker, little, neutral, or switch) there had never been a national system for determining which one someone was, nor was there a way to track or stay accountable for anyone. The national testing and registration allowed the government to be liable for vulnerable groups of people, particularly littles and subs. The Department of Littles and Submissives, a subdivision of the Department of Personality Classification, was charged with checking up on littles and submissives to ensure they were being treated well and taking care of themselves (or being taken care of). The test had changed and adapted as technology made it easier and more fool-proof to administer, but it largely remained the same. After a person turned 18 but before they turned 26, they would present themselves at a testing center. Once the test was administered, an official proctor would read and confirm the results, logging them in the computer system and providing the person with a registration card.

Kara had taken the test during her first year at Catco, waiting until after college to allow herself more time to grow and figure out who she is. When she received her results as a little, Alex had agreed to be her caregiver, though both women recognized they were better as sisters than as a caregiver/little pair. When Kara met Sam, the bond had been instantaneous. Sam was also a caregiver, and had been dating Alex for a little while, but everything shifted when Kara and Sam bonded. Bonds were rather rare, considering. No one was quite sure why they happened, but sometimes pairs of people would form a soul connection deeper than any medical doctor could understand or explain scientifically. Kara and Sam’s bond had been just that. When Kara was little, Sam was her Mommy or her Yeyu. Alex, despite the fact that she was now engaged to Sam, preferred to be called Sissy. Ruby was also little Kara’s sissy.

Despite the fact that Lena still hadn’t taken the test and was unregistered, Sam had a feeling that she, too, would be classified as a little. However, her boss and best friend was a fiercely private woman and if she were indulging in any little tendencies to cope with stress, Sam knew that she wouldn’t appreciate Kara dropping in on her unexpectedly and bearing witness to it.

“But Sam,” Kara pleaded, “I won’t intrude! I just want to pop in, say hi, make sure she’s okay, then leave. Please?” She clasped her hands together and batted her eyes, sticking her bottom lip out for good measure. Sam rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, trying to pretend like she wasn’t swayed by Kara’s pouting skills.

“Kara,” Alex sighed as she entered the living room, plopping down on the couch. She swirled her glass, ice clinking against the sides (she had been cutting back on her alcohol consumption, but she liked the theatrics of the motion). “Lena is probably just asleep. You don’t want to wake her after the day she’s had, do you?” Sam had shared her theories with Alex and she was grateful for Alex’s assistance in letting Lena maintain some privacy on this matter. Had it been a normal day, or even a slightly less shitty day, Sam wouldn’t have batted an eye at Kara going to visit Lena unannounced. It sure happened often enough anyway.

No, Sam was more concerned than usual because she had gone into the office to visit Lena around eight before she left for the evening, hoping to check on her friend. When she’d entered, Lena was chewing lightly on the end of her pen and twirling a lock of her hair as she stared at her computer screen. After a moment, Lena traded the pen for her thumbnail, dipping her thumb into her mouth for just a second as if resisting the urge to suck it. Sam took out her phone, pretending to be staring at it as she knocked, startling Lena. Lena’s cheeks were red when Sam looked up, pretending to have just walked in. That, combined with Lena’s frazzled, frantic energy had Sam thinking she’d surely be in some sort of semi-dropped state if she was home now. That, or she truly had just passed out on her bed as soon as she walked into her apartment. Either way, it would be easier if Kara just checked on her in the morning.

Sam had been zoned out and had missed a chunk of the conversation Alex and Kara had been having, but tuned back in when Kara’s voice raised both in pitch and volume. “I’m not little right now, Alex! You can’t just tell me what to do!” Recognizing the set of Alex’s jaw, Sam quickly intervened.

“You’re right,” Sam said to Kara, holding out her hands to both Kara and Alex as if trying to physically keep them apart. For half a second, Kara seemed surprised to be right. “You’re not currently little, so I’m your friend and not your Yeyu. But as your friend, I will say I agree that Lena is probably just asleep and her phone is dead.”

“Maybe you can just do a quick fly by?” Alex suggested. “You can hear her heartbeat, make sure she’s okay. Will that satisfy you?” In the blink of an eye, Kara was in her Supergirl uniform. She kissed both Alex and Sam’s cheeks before taking off, calling out her ‘I love you’s and ‘be back soon’s as she flew in the direction of Lena’s apartment.

“Odds she finds a dropped Lena?” Alex asked with a nervous chuckle.

“Pretty damn good. Odds she goes inside if she sees Lena awake?”

“Oh, guaranteed,” Alex scoffed. Sam laughed, nodding. “You gonna wait up for her to text that she got back to her apartment safe?” When Kara was feeling big, she tended to stay in her apartment in the city, promising to text Sam and Alex when she got home for the night.

“Probably,” Sam admitted. “But I can do that in the bedroom. It’s been a long fucking day.” Sam exhaled slowly and Alex nodded, taking Sam by the hand and pulling her in for a gentle kiss, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.

“Well, we’d better rest up. If Kara finds Lena being little, we’re going to have quite a shit storm to deal with tomorrow. Not to mention putting out those fires at work.” 

Sam groaned, stumbling into Alex and resting her head on top of Alex’s head as they walked, both exhausted and anxious, worried about what would happen with Lena and Kara and how the fallout would affect their friendship and the whole group’s dynamic.

When Kara flew by Lena’s apartment, she found all the lights still on and the sounds of the TV still playing. Lena almost always kept the balcony door unlocked, an open invitation for Kara, she’d said. Unable to resist checking up on her and making sure Lena was okay after her shitty day, she landed quietly on the balcony and let herself in. She headed into the living room, not bothering to try and silence her footsteps, assuming Lena had heard her entrance.

“Hey Lena! What are you watch—oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you,” Kara apologized as she plopped down on the couch just behind Lena. Lena had jumped violently and shrieked, knocking over a plastic pencil case full of crayons. Kara paused at that. Crayons? Lena had a  _ Paw Patrol _ coloring book on her table opened to a half-scribbled picture of the whole gang dressed as pirates and her TV was playing  _ Paw Patrol. _ Lena’s hair was messy and tangled as if she’d been twirling it or playing with it. Kara watched as her thumb dropped from her mouth to her lap, where a tattered pink blanket rested. She quickly pulled it up to hide the lower half of her face as her cheeks turned bright pink and Kara saw the teddy bear resting on the ground next to her. “Oh, Lena, you… Oh,” Kara whispered in understanding, nodding.

Lena shook her head fervently, tears in her eyes. Kara moved from the couch to sit on the floor next to her, wanting to reach out and comfort her, but unsure if her comforting gestures would be well approved. “No, no, not s’posed to see,” she mumbled, still shaking her head. 

“Lena, it’s okay. You’re little right now, right?” 

“No!” Lena shouted, whimpering immediately after. She dropped her eyes to her lap, unable to hold Kara’s gaze any longer. “No, I not. Not little.”

“Lena,” Kara sighed.

“Not s’posed to see this,” Lena mumbled, shaking her head again. 

“Do you… do you want me to leave?” Kara asked, though she really didn’t feel good about potentially leaving Lena here alone in this state. Thankfully, Lena shook her head, mumbling for Kara to stay. “Do you want a hug?” Lena tensed, staring down at her lap and shifting uncomfortably. She paused before shaking her head.

“No, can’t,” she whimpered.

“Why not, Lena? When I’m feeling little and sad, hugs from Sam and Alex always make me feel better.” Kara tucked a strand of hair behind Lena’s ear.

“Can’t,” Lena said. “Icky.” The blanket was slowly lowered, revealing Lena’s tear-stained face and bright red cheeks.

“What’s icky, honey?” Kara asked. Lena whined, closing her eyes. Kara shifted to her knees and moving in front of Lena, not to try and grab her, but rather to look at her headlong rather than from the side. However, this made Lena panic and she squirmed, trying to scoot back from Kara but being blocked by the couch. In all of her shifting and squirming, Lena’s blanket fell from her lap onto the ground next to her, revealing the wet stain on the crotch of her pajama pants. “Ohhh,” Kara said, sitting back. Realizing what had happened, Lena started to whimper, hands covering her face. “Did I scare you when I came in and you had a little accident?” Kara whispered.

“Didn’t mean to,” Lena whined. One of her hands moved from covering her eyes to let her thumb slip in her mouth. “Sorry.”

“Oh, sweetie, it’s okay. We don’t have to apologize for accidents, that’s what Sam says. But, I know that you’ve definitely gotta be uncomfortable at this point. Can we go get you all cleaned up and into some new jammies? Wouldn’t you rather be clean and warm and dry?” Kara put her hand on Lena’s cheek, wiping away the stray tears. Lena leaned into the touch desperately, crying harder as she nodded. “Okay, Lena. Let’s get you to the bathroom. Can I pick you up?” Lena nodded and Kara stood, scooping Lena onto her hip, disregarding the fact that she’d need to wash her super suit after.

“So,” Kara said once she set Lena down on the bathroom mat. With tear-stained cheeks, red-rimmed eyes, her thumb in her mouth, and her oversized pajamas with the wet stain on the crotch made Lena look so small. “Do you want a bath or to wipe down with a wet washcloth?” Sam generally liked to avoid giving Kara a full bath if it wasn’t needed, but based on the way Lena still shook and her face was red and covered in snot and her hair was all tangled, it might help her calm down as well as clean up.

“Bath,” she said quietly, twirling a strand of hand and sucking her thumb. Kara nodded, turning on the tap. 

“Hey Lena, can you tell me if this is the right temperature? I’m not so good at sensing temperature,” Kara asked. Lena grinned behind her thumb and bounded forward, eager to help. Alex had a knack for doing that when Kara was feeling particularly little and powerless, finding small ways of making her seem like a big help. Kara desperately wanted to call her Yeyu and Sissy, but Lena was far too needy right now for Kara to divert her attention. She had to rely on what  _ she _ liked done for her when she was little for now. 

Once the water’s temperature was just right and the clawfoot tub was filling with warm water and bubbles, Kara turned to get Lena into the bath. Lena blushed when Kara helped her step out of her wet pants and underwear, staring at her feet when Kara unbuttoned her shirt and eased it off her shoulders. When Kara turned to put it in a pile, Lena wrapped her arms around midsection and chest, covering herself up. Kara offered her hand to Lena to help her into the tub, holding it tight until she was sitting in the bubbles. Kara turned off the tap and smiled at Lena.

“Alright, honey, can you stay here for a minute? I want to change into some comfy clothes.” Lena bit her lower lip to keep it from trembling as she nodded. Kara leaned down and kissed her temple. “Super quick, I promise.” She took off in the blink of an eye, taking only two minutes to change out of her super suit, put her suit and Lena’s wet clothes and blanket in the washing machine on the rapid gentle cycle, and scrub the spot on the living room carpet where Lena had her accident. Kara returned wearing a pair of Lena’s L-Corp company sweatpants and an old MIT long-sleeve t-shirt. “See! Super quick,” she said with a grin when she returned, sitting herself down on a foot stool.

Lena sank into the warm water and bubbles, content to float as Kara washed her with a loofah. When the bubbles started to dissipate, Kara replaced it with a bath bomb, watching as Lena giggled and batted it around. Lena was pliant, despite the fact that she blushed any time Kara looked at her. Kara was gentle with Lena as she tilted her head back to rinse the shampoo and then conditioner from her hair and handing Lena a cloth to clean her thighs and between her legs. By the time she was clean and the water was getting cool, Lena’s eyes were drooping and she kept rubbing them with her fists.

“Let’s get you in some dry jammies, hmmm?” Kara whispered, lifting Lena from the tub and wrapping her in a fluffy towel before Lena could even shiver. Lena laughed when Kara picked her up and carried her to her bed, sitting her down gently. “Alright, do you keep your special pajamas anywhere specific?”

“Under the bed,” Lena hummed, kicking her feet lightly. Kara dropped to the ground and pulled out a locked box. Lena told her to key code and she opened it to find colored pencils, story books, pajamas, clothes, and a plastic bag of diaper supplies, all unopened. Grabbing a few things, Kara placed them on the floor before kneeling and smiling at Lena.

“Hey, pumpkin, do you usually wear big girl panties to bed or these diapers?” Kara asked gently. Lena whimpered.

“Not a baby,” she whispered, her eyes wide and full of tears when she looked at Kara.

“I never said you were,” Kara pointed out, though she did believe that Lena was probably closer to a baby when she was little than she was to Kara’s age. When she was little, she tended to fall around five or six, though sometimes when she’d had a particularly rough time, she would drop to three or four. “I just wanted to ask what you want to do. So, are you okay with wearing a diaper or no?”

“Have to?” Lena asked around her thumb.

“No, I’m not trying to make you do anything you don’t want to. If you want to wear your regular underwear, that’s fine with me. But if you  _ do _ want to wear the diaper, just to be safe, I just want you to know it’s an option and I won’t be mad at you or upset about it, okay?” Tears started to roll down Lena’s cheeks again and her cheeks grew pinker.

“I… I wanna…” Lena trailed off.

“What do you wanna do, love bug?” Kara asked, stroking Lena’s cheek. The pet names easily fell from Kara’s lips. Her Yeyu was a big fan of pet names, especially when she was feeling little and sleepy and cranky like this.

“I… diaper? Makes me feel safe,” she mumbled. Were it not for Kara’s super hearing, she likely would’ve needed Lena to repeat herself.

“If that’s what you want, that’s what we’ll do, okay? It’s what you want, right?” Lena nodded. Kara smiled. “Good girl for telling me what you need. Lay back and we’ll get you all dressed and cozy, okay?” Lena nodded, laying back on her bed. She was pliant and cooperative as Kara made quick work of putting the diaper on her and getting her into a pair of Supergirl footie pajamas. Lena grinned as Kara zipped up the pajamas, even though wearing the diaper made her feel like a dumb baby. Next to her polka dots, this was her favorite pair of jammies with the warm footies and the cape clipped to her shoulders. “There we go. Cute as a button.” Lena giggled as Kara booped her nose. “Can I brush your hair and braid it? Yeyu always does it for me when I wash my hair before bed.”

“Please,” Lena nodded, once again sucking her thumb. She really wanted her teddy, but didn’t want to seem like even more of a dumb baby by asked for it, so she made do by wrapping her free arm around her belly as Kara shifted to sit behind her on the bed. Despite being made of steel, Kara’s hands were impossibly gentle as she combed through and detangled Lena’s hair. The soothing motions lulled Lena to the point where she was certain she would fall asleep before Kara finished putting her hair in two braids, but then her stomach growled loudly (and painful pangs hit her).

“Oh my goodness!” Kara laughed. “Sounds like you’ve got a tiger in your belly. When’s the last time you ate something, peanut?”

“Lunch with you,” Lena said softly, feeling Kara tense as she tied off Lena’s second braid.

“Lena, sweetheart, that was  _ yesterday _ . A full thirty-six hours ago! You must be starving, poor thing. No wonder you’re so sad and tired and cranky,” Kara noted.

“Not cranky,” Lena pouted, pulling her thumb out of her mouth to cross both arms over her chest. 

Kara sighed and said, “fine, you aren’t cranky. But either way, you have to remember to eat more often! You have to take care of yourself!” Lena frowns then, and her lower lip wobbles. Kara sounds so sad and upset with her. “Don’t cry, Lena, I’m sorry. I just care about you and want to see you take care of yourself. Why don’t we go cook you something for that tiger in your belly, hmmm? Can’t go to bed hungry, right?” Kara holds out her hand and Lena takes it, letting herself be led back towards her kitchen. Lena stops in the living room, running over to the couch to grab her teddy.

“Where’s pink soft blankie?” Lena asked, looking around and under the couch.

“In the wash with your jammies and my suit. It’s on a gentle cycle and it should be done drying in about half an hour, okay? In time for bedtime.” Lena nodded, though she really wanted to cry. All she wanted to do was rub pink soft blankie on her face so she knew everything would be okay. She hugged her teddy to her chest tight and followed Kara into the kitchen. Kara picked Lena up, startling her slightly, and set her on one of the stools with the armrests, pushing the chair in until Lena was closed in, unable to climb down without pushing the chair out. Kara disappeared and returned in the blink of an eye with Lena’s crayons (neatly returned to her spacemaker case) and her coloring book. “Can you color for me while I look for something to cook?” 

Lena nodded, though she didn’t really feel like coloring. She was  _ exhausted _ and the way Kara had pushed in this chair made her feel like she was in a highchair. Her exhaustion, her crankiness, and the gentle way Kara handled her had Lena feeling even smaller and more out of control than usual. Rubbing her eye with her fist, Lena stifled a yawn.

“I know, sleepy girl. Let’s just get something in that belly before you go to bed, okay? I’m gonna text Sam and Alex to see if they have any easy suggestions based on what you have in your cupboards,” Kara said, pulling out her phone.

“No!” Lena yelped, eyes suddenly wide open. “No tell!”

“Whoa, whoa, Lena, sweetie, relax. No tell who? Alex and Sam?” Kara asked, crossing the kitchen to squeeze Lena’s shoulder and press a kiss to her temple.

“No tell! Not s’posed to know. No tell,” she insisted, eyes welling with tears.

“Okay,” Kara agreed immediately. “Okay, I won’t text them about this tonight, okay? I promise. We can talk more about it tomorrow, but I won’t tell them if you don’t want me to, okay?” Lena nodded, no longer tired. She sucked her thumb, teddy tucked under the crook of her elbow as she began to color and Kara gave her a concerned look before going back to prowling around Lena’s cupboards. There wasn’t much that would be easy to make, but luckily Kara found a box of mac and cheese in the pantry and some milk and butter in the fridge. Within seconds, she had a pot of water boiling and noodles cooking. She glanced back to see Lena’s tongue poking out between her teeth as she focused on her coloring. Kara smiled, taking out her phone to shoot a quick text to Sam.

_ Lena was still awake, so she and I are hanging a bit. She’s a little upset, so I’ll probably stay here tonight. Love you! Xo _

Kara didn’t want to break Lena’s trust by telling Alex and Sam, but she was kind of out of her depth here. She had  _ no idea _ how to take care of another little, particularly not one as emotional and young as Lena seemed to be.  _ One step at a time, _ she reminded herself.  _ First, dinner. _ She glanced back at the noodles, stirring them a few times. They cooked quickly, and by the time Kara had mixed the cheese and put it on a plate for Lena, Lena had finished her picture, proudly pointing at it when Kara came over to tuck a cloth napkin in Lena’s collar as a makeshift bib. She rolled up Lena’s sleeves and praised her for the beautiful picture (scribbled in a bright rainbow of colors, often straying outside the lines) before grabbing the mac and cheese, blowing on it with just a bit of her freeze breath to make sure it was cool enough before giving it to Lena.

“I do!” Lena protested when Kara tried to scoop some for her. Kara just laughed, holding her hands up in surrender and giving the fork over to Lena.

“Of course, Lena,” Kara said with a chuckle. She felt her phone buzz and, checking that Lena was busy with feeding herself, opened the text from Sam.

_ K! Thnx for letting us know. Love you. Sleep tight, don’t let the bedbugs bite! _

Kara grinned down at the text, but her stomach twisted painfully as she realized she had just lied to her Mommy. Okay, so technically it was more of an omission, but wasn’t that also a lie? And sure, it wasn’t Kara’s secret to tell if it wasn’t an emergency, and this doesn’t qualify, but that didn’t assuage any of Kara’s guilt. As she sat wondering if there was a way to let Alex and Sam know without breaking her promise to Lena (maybe convincing Lena to tell them herself? Or just take the classification test?), Lena poked Kara with one finger.

“What’s up, buttercup?” Kara asked brightly, turning to smile at Lena.

“More?” she asked shyly, and Kara realized that Lena had quickly scarfed down the entire plate, though her glass of water was untouched.

“Sure thing, Lena. Do you want something other than water to drink? Or maybe a different cup? I could put it in a water bottle, if you want? I think I left my sport bottle here a few weeks ago, so it won’t spill,” Kara continued as she went back to the stove to scoop out the rest of the mac and cheese. Despite being older in her headspace, Kara was still clumsy and often spilled things or knocked them over, so Sam and Alex insisted on sippy cups or covered bottles when she was little. Lena didn’t respond to the question, but when Kara turned to give her more food, she saw Lena’s cheeks were burning again. “Hey, it’s okay, Lena. I only asked because you should probably have something to drink. If you just want something other than water in your glass, that’s fine. If you would feel better with a straw or a water bottle with a closed top, that’s okay too! I only ask because I want to make sure we only do things you’re comfy with, okay?” Lena nodded, sniffling. Kara wondered if Lena always cried this much when she was little.

“Bottle, please?” she whispered. Kara leaned down to kiss her cheek, making an overdramatic smooching sound as she praised a now-giggling Lena for being brave and asking for what she needed. While Kara transferred the water from the glass to her light blue water bottle, Lena ate more mac and cheese. Kara gave her the water, grateful to see Lena immediately take a long sip. Heading back to the fridge, Kara found the strawberries, just another day or two away from being too rotten to eat. Kara cut and rinsed them before putting them in a bowl and giving them to Lena, who had already finished the second helping of mac and cheese and immediately moved on to the strawberries.

“You were hungry, weren’t you, honey?” Kara mused and Lena nodded. Leaving Lena with the strawberries, Kara rinsed the dishes before putting them in Lena’s dishwasher.

“All done,” Lena called softly. Within seconds, Kara was by her side, smiling proudly at her.

“Look at you! You ate all of your food, and drank most of your water? That must feel nice for your empty belly, huh?” Lena nodded, rubbing a strawberry-stained red hand on her eye. The strawberry juice mixed with some of the cheese on her cheeks. “Looks like we should’ve waited until  _ after _ you ate for your bath, huh pretty girl?” Kara teased. Lena pouted. She didn’t  _ want _ another bath! “I’m just kidding. Let me get a wet washcloth and you’ll be all clean!” Once Lena’s face and hands were clean and free from dinner mess, Kara scooted out the chair and picked Lena up out of it, balancing her on her hip.

“Play now?” Lena asked.

“I don’t know, sweetie. I think we should get you to bed, right? It’s been a very long day.”

“No! Don’t wanna go bed yet!” Lena pouted.

“But honey, it’s so late! And you look pretty sleepy to me,” Kara pointed out as Lena stifled a yawn, still stubbornly shaking her head. “Why not?”

“Blankie! Need it!” Lena said, exasperated as if this ought to have been obvious. Kara wanted to smack herself in the forehead.

“Of course, sweetie. Here, you sit on the couch and I’ll go check the laundry, okay?” Lena nodded, snuggling her teddy close to her as she sat on the couch, waiting for Kara to come back. When she did come back, she wasn’t holding blankie and she looked sad. “It’s not quite ready yet, Lena. We can watch one episode of a show, alright? Then it’s bedtime, seriously,” Kara said, though it wasn’t particularly intimidating when she looked so cozy and was trying to persuade a stubborn toddler to go to bed. Lena acquiesced and Kara got her set up with an episode of  _ Arthur _ , settling on the couch next to her, one arm wrapped around her shoulders. Halfway through the episode, Kara heard the telltale sounds of the dryer cycle ending. She stood to go retrieve Lena’s things.

“Hey Lena,” she sang when she returned, hands behind her back. “Guess what I have!”

“Pink soft blankie!” she cried, running over to Kara (only waddling slightly) to take the blanket, still warm from the dryer, and press it to her face, humming in satisfaction.

“Can we go to sleep now?” Kara asked. Lena nodded, holding up her arms for Kara to pick her up. Once Kara had her on her hip, Lena rested her head on Kara’s shoulder, thumb in her mouth and blanket pressed to her cheek, teddy bear dangling by her side. Kara settled Lena under the covers, tucking her in. Bending over to kiss her goodnight before heading to the guest room, Kara was stopped by Lena’s hand on her shirt. “What’s wrong, honey?”

“Stay? Please?” she asked, face open and vulnerable.

“Always,” Kara promised, climbing under the covers to join Lena. Lena curled up on her side and Kara wrapped her arms around her, hugging her tight to her chest. Lena rested her cheek on Kara’s chest, her ear right above her heart and sighed. The blanket was tucked up to her chin and her teddy bear was pinned between Kara and Lena’s bodies, thumb in her mouth. Kara rubbed circles on her back until Lena fell asleep.

Once Lena was fully asleep, Kara shifted so she could use both of her hands, pulling out her phone. She desperately wanted to text Yeyu. Despite the fact that she’d been little just two days ago, taking care of Lena for the past two hours has left her exhausted and feeling small. Kara types out a text, staring at it for a few minutes before deleting it. If she sent a text that said ‘ _ night-night Yeyu _ ’, Sam, who was a light sleeper, would wake up to the notification and know that Kara was feeling little. Then, she’d worry about Kara alone with a sleeping, stressed out Lena, and she’d probably come by to check on her. Sam would see Lena in her footie pajamas and probably know she was wearing a diaper because Yeyu knows everything, and Kara would have broken her promise. So, Kara deleted the text and went to the internet instead to research tips for taking care of littles under the age of three. She continued with this for another hour before her own exhaustion pulled her under and she too fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! You guys were so nice about the first chapter, I decided to keep going!

Lena woke the next morning feeling groggy. She stretched slowly and whined, always reluctant to start the day after falling asleep little. Not that it happened often, of course. Lena Luthor could  _ not _ be a little. It simply wasn’t true. This was just… a phase. Of course. But Lena’s insistence on not being a little was interrupted when she heard the crinkle of a diaper and felt it squish beneath her, quite clearly wet against her skin. She whined. This was  _ much worse _ than usual.

Not only had she been little, but Kara had  _ seen. _ Kara had  _ taken care of her _ . Kara had walked in on her watching baby cartoons and coloring, sucking her thumb and snuggling her blankie and her teddy. Kara had seen her piss her pants and given her a bath. Kara had put her in a  _ diaper _ and overnight, Lena had  _ used it _ . This wasn’t her usual post-little hangover (not that it happened often enough to be considered ‘usual,’  _ of course _ ), this was something  _ much worse _ .

Lena tentatively rolled over to find an empty bed. She sat up and sat with her teddy bear on her lap, hugging it to her belly. “Oh,” she said softly. Because despite her mortification at Kara seeing her like this, some not-insignificant part of her had hoped Kara would stay with her. She had hoped Kara would be able to stay and show that she loves  _ all _ of Lena, regardless of her name. But here she sits, alone in an empty bed with a wet diaper.

Despite her disappointment, Lena knew she wasn’t feeling very little anymore. So, she stood up and packed her blanket and teddy bear into the box beneath her bed then awkwardly waddled to the bathroom. She rinsed off quickly in the shower, putting her hair in a bun to keep it dry. Once she was back out, she put on leggings and an oversized dark green sweater with her fluffy gray and white leg warmers. She was just about to go put away her crayons and her coloring book, the last remaining evidence of her being little last night, when Supergirl flew in through the balcony, covered in soot and reeking of campfire.

“Hey, sweetheart. How are you doing this morning?” Kara asked, immediately coming over to kiss Lena’s temple. Lena skittered back and widened her eyes like a deer in headlights.

“Kara, I’m not little,” Lena whispered before closing her eyes, steeling herself for Kara’s derision, her snide comment about a Luthor being little, anything really. 

She was not expecting Kara to say, “well then, can I give you a hug?” Lena nodded wordlessly, out of pure instinct, but she stood there in shock as Kara hugged her tight. What’s wrong, Lena?” she asked when she pulled back and noticed Lena’s red-rimmed eyes.

“I thought… when you were gone this morning… I thought you didn’t want to be my friend anymore because… I’m little sometimes,” Lena stammered nervously. She couldn’t seem to stop herself from being painfully honest like this.

“Well that would be rather hypocritical, wouldn’t it? Lena,  _ I’m _ little,” Kara laughed and Lena blushed, frowning.

“That’s different.”

“Why is it any different?”

“Because!” Lena exclaimed, stomping her foot. She took a minute to breathe, heading off any childish temper tantrums. “Because,” she tried again, considerably calmer. “It’s different because I’m a Luthor and a CEO.” Lena fussed at one of the pillows on the couch as Kara processed the information.

“I’m sorry, Lena. I guess I hadn’t thought of it that way,” she conceded. Lena nodded. “But, I do still love you. You’re my best friend, no matter what. I’ll protect you, and I’ll help you feel safe and make sure you’re taken care of properly.”

“And you won’t tell anyone?”

Kara chewed her lower lip. “I don’t think I’m really comfortable making that promise, Lena,” she admitted. Lena jutted out her lower lip as it wobbled and her eyes grew wide and wet. She knew this was just a hormonal holdover from being little, but it was seriously messing up her ability to think straight right then. “Only because I care!” Kara added quickly. “I just… think you should have your own caregiver or caseworker or something. I won’t be much good taking care of you if I’m off fighting supervillains or little myself.”

“But… I’ve been doing just fine until now! I can do this on my own. No one can know. No one is  _ supposed _ to know,” Lena insisted.

“What does that mean? ‘Supposed to know’?” Kara had a sinking feeling she knew where this mentality was coming from.

“Well, growing up, Lillian always made it clear… Luthors just… aren’t little.” Lena paused and Kara sighed. “I guess I just always thought… I’d fake my way through the test and get myself registered as a neutral. This could just be… something I do, like, sometimes?” Lena picked at a pill on her sweater, avoiding eye contact with Kara.

“I am  _ so _ sorry she made you feel like you have to hide a part of yourself. I’m sorry she made you feel like something less than,” Kara said softly. She grabbed Lena’s fidgeting hands with one hand and tilted her chin up until they were making eye contact. “And I know this sounds cheesy and stuff, but you are my best friend and I love you exactly the way you are. I love all the parts of you, even the ones you don’t love yourself.”

“Thank you,” Lena sniffled as a tear rolled down her cheek. She laughed and rolled her eyes, swiping at them furiously. “Sorry. Lots of tears, I know.”

“That’s okay,” Kara assured her. Lena mouthed her thanks and smiled at her. Kara paused before continuing, “so can we compromise? I’m not saying you need to go out and get registered and make a public announcement or anything. But maybe we tell Alex and Sam? I just… I know you feel like you can take care of yourself because you’ve been hiding this for so long and dealing with it yourself, but you don’t have to anymore. You’ve got people, now. People who care about you and want to help you with the hard stuff.”

“I really don’t… Can we just wait a bit? I’m not… I’m not ready yet. Please? Just a little more time?”

“I can’t make you tell them,” Kara reminded her. “It’s not my secret. So, I will keep this a secret a while longer. But, if there’s some kind of emergency or something where I need to tell someone—like if I get hurt or whatever and someone needs to take care of you—then is it alright if I tell Sam or Alex?”

“Okay,” Lena said softly, nodding. 

After a moment, Kara asked gently, “do you want to talk about it? Like, what you like when you’re little? What you need?”

Lena just shrugged. “I don’t… I don’t think I really know. I’ve never done this with anyone else before so…” She trailed off.

“Alright, well, uhh, could we just go over a few things? Just… if you ever need me again?” Sighing, Lena nodded. After a few minutes of silence in which it became clear that Lena would not be leading this conversation, Kara spoke. “Maybe we could start with some kind of… code word? So I know when you think you’re feeling little? Like, Alex always knows because I call her Sissy, or Lexi sometimes. If you want, we could have some kind of code so that I know you need me to come over and hang out or take care of you or whatever.”

“I guess,” Lena hummed, shrugging.

After another pause, Kara asked, “any suggestions for the code word?”

“Well, what would you suggest?”

“Something simple and inconspicuous, maybe? Like… ‘feeling tired, might nap later’ or even as simple as ‘I need you’ or something? You can text it or call me and say it and I’ll know what you mean, but no one else needs to,” Kara suggested. Lena mulled it over.

“I could say I  _ really _ need you, just to be a bit more specific?” Lena said hesitantly. Kara nodded.

“Sounds good! Okay, so now we need to discuss limits. Things you really don’t like or couldn’t do. Like, um, the diapers? Is that something you’d want to do again or no?” Lena couldn’t meet Kara’s gaze, focusing on picking little pills off her sweater rather than looking at Kara or responding.

After awhile, Lena spoke. “I like them, but not always. I’m usually around 3 or 4, as far as I can tell. Last night was just… different.” Lena’s voice was small and timid, glancing up nervously as if worried Kara would laugh at her. Kara didn’t. She just nodded and gave her a reassuring smile.

“Okay, and… could I carry you around?” Lena nodded; she’d always loved when Kara held her. “Alright, cool. So, um… when I’m little, and even when I’m not, I have rules and there are consequences when I break them. Is that… something we could work on?” Kara had always lived with rules, and when she first arrived at the Danvers home, she had a lot of rules to follow. Some were to help keep her secret, others were to keep her safe, and others were just to help her adjust to Earth life. But then and now, the structure of rules made her feel safe.

“Okay,” Lena says in a small voice. She resists the urge to bury her face in her blanket. “I don’t… Don’t do anything like… What did you do for punishments?” Lena asks nervously. She has no frame of reference for a healthy or normal punishment frame. Lillian Luthor had always insisted on harsh punishments to deter bad behavior, though her punishments were often too harsh for even prison inmates.

“Oh, well it depends. Sometimes it’s a time out or lines. Alex would kind of swat my butt or my thighs sometimes, but it never really hurt me. When Sam does it, it actually hurts though.” Kara frowned. Her Yeyu had Kryptonian strength, so her spankings were always harder. Shaking it off, she continued, “but we don’t have to do that. We can do things like loss of privileges, earlier bedtimes, stuff like that. Whatever you’re comfortable with,” Kara assures her quickly. “And if you want to try something but it’s really not good for you, you can say… um… kryptonite. Like a safe word! And I’ll stop immediately.”

“Okay. We can just… try stuff out, I guess.” Lena shrugs.

“Then can I suggest a few rules?” Lena nods, biting on her bottom lip. Kara inhales deeply. “Your safety is the priority. That means eating three meals a day. Healthy meals! And don’t work too long, when you can help it. I know sometimes you like to google yourself and read all the nasty things people say about you, but I don’t want you to do that. Don’t bury your feelings; if something is upsetting you, we can talk about it. And just… trust me, I guess? I’ll take care of you, I promise. But trust me to do that, and talk to me about things,” Kara says quickly.

“Mhmm,” Lena nods. She can feel herself slipping a bit the more they discuss this, but she has too much work to do to let herself get distracted by this.

“Cool! So, what do you want to do for breakfast? Oh, can I use your shower? Maybe we can go try that new diner over on Sycamore.”

“Actually, Kara, I think I need a little time, er, alone? To sort through everything?” Lena said tentatively, cheeks pink. She didn’t want to offend Kara who had been so kind and gentle with her, but she really needed some time to decompress and analyze how she felt about all of  _ this. _

“Oh! Yeah, no, yeah, of course,” Kara said quickly. “I’ll just head home. Text me sometime later so I know we’re good?” Kara came over to hug Lena, holding her tight.

Lena whispered in her ear, “of course we’re good. I’ll still text you later though, okay?” Kara hummed her agreement, giving Lena one final squeeze before pulling away, smiling at her, and taking off back towards Sam and Alex’s house where the two women would surely be waiting with breakfast.

Much to Kara’s chagrin, they didn’t discuss it much after that. Sure, Kara texted to check in with Lena, but Lena didn’t mention anything about being an unregistered, actively dropping little so neither did Kara. Then things just slowly slid back into their usual places and their routine continued. They would have breakfast, lunch, or dinner together whenever their schedules allowed it. Lena came over for movie nights and even made it to the game night they’d had. Kara came to check in on Lena on long days at the office, but Lena assured Kara she was stressed, but would be fine.

After well over a month of waiting for the other shoe to drop, Kara wondered if it ever would. And like a cosmic ‘fuck you’ to that, the shoe dropped. Hard.

  
  


  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the next chapter will definitely be heavier... Idk what happened... Sorry in advance... I'll probably post it next week after I finish it
> 
> But keep commenting!!


	3. Chapter 3

“Hey, Alex, I know I’m late! But there was this insane wait at the Chinese place and they forgot my potstickers so then I had to wait for them to be ready and—”

_ “Kara, listen to me,” _ Alex’s voice was cool and authoritative as if she were at the DEO, not on her way home to hers and Sam’s. Tonight was the first night of Kara’s long weekend. James had given her three days off from CatCo after her latest story about price gouging for aliens in the medical field broke, and J’onn had agreed to take her Supergirl duties. Alex and Sam were also planning to take most of the weekend off, arranging it so one of them would be home at all times leaving Kara free to be dropped the entire time if she wanted.

“What’s wrong?” Kara’s voice hardened and she was already scanning for an alley to duck into to change into her super suit.

_ “I got a call just before I left. Someone called in aliens jumping a female civilian. I was closest because I was on my way home. But Kara, it was Lena.” _ Kara thought she heard Alex’s voice break. And then she wondered if she heard Alex wrong. It couldn’t have been Lena. Surely she said something else. Another name. Or maybe not a name at all. A street name? An area?  _ “Kara, focus on me,” _ Alex snapped.

“I’m here,” Kara said, exhaling raggedly. She handed her bags of food to the nearest person she saw, a homeless man and his dog sitting on the sidewalk, and took off running for the nearest alley or shadowy corner without any security cameras. “Where am I going?” Within the blink of an eye, Kara was gone and Supergirl was flying above the streets, already zeroing in on Alex’s heartbeat and flying to her. She tuned out the sirens racing to the same destination and focused on two familiar heartbeats, though one was much faster than it usually was.

_ “A block and a half from Lena’s apartment complex. How close? _ ” Alex said. Her voice echoed now as Kara heard it both through her phone headset and through her super hearing.

“Thirty seconds out.” Both women went silent and Kara could more clearly hear the frantic, panicked inhales next to Alex and the pained whimpers. Alex was shushing her now, trying to soothe her, but it wasn’t working. Kara landed near them, hearing the sidewalk crack beneath her feet. “Lena,” Kara gasped. Lying on the ground, half-propped up on Alex’s knees was Lena. Her hair was mussed, her face was swollen and quickly bruising, and her lip was bleeding. She held one hand to her side and the other clutched desperately at Alex, blocking her attempts to check Lena’s wounds.

“Kara, you need to xray her abdomen. Are there any broken bones or shards of bone that were cast off?” Alex ordered sharply. “And we need to rule out spinal injury before we can move her, though I can’t get her to stop moving herself,” Alex grunted as Lena whined and wriggled. “She’s panic dropping and trying to fight it. I need to get her back to the DEO so we can sedate her and treat her injuries.”

“What? Dropping? She—I mean, what are you—” 

“Don’t bother, Kara. Sam has known for almost as long as she’s known Lena and she told me about it just in case something like this ever happened. Now, tell me what you see so we can move her,” Alex interrupted. 

Kara went to question Alex’s reveal, but cut herself off. Instead, she focused her xray vision. “No broken bones or shards of bone, but there are some cracks and some wicked bruises on her organs. I wanna say liver? Maybe a spleen? I don’t know for sure. No spinal cord injuries or swelling, though.”

“Good, then you need to pick us up and take us to the DEO.”

“But, Alex, this isn’t protocol,” Kara said, but she was already striding over to them, trying to figure out the best way to carry both women. It wasn’t a matter of strength, but rather a fear of Lena squirming and Kara losing her grip.

“Oh, fuck protocol. It’s Maggie’s unit on their way over, and I’ll smooth this all over later, but I’m certain Lena doesn’t want to be seen like this right now. I’ll take care of her.” Alex’s voice softened on this and Lena stilled in her movements, tilting her head back to look up at Alex. She still seemed to be struggling to breathe and her left eye was starting to swell shut, but Alex just smiled at her and Lena relaxed just a bit more. “I’ll take care of you,” she said softly. 

Hearing the sirens getting closer, Kara grabbed Alex in a bridal carry with one arm, securing Lena with her other arm. It was an awkward flight trying to basically sandwich the two of them together and battle the wind currents and backdrafts from planes and weather systems, but luckily it was a short flight. In under a minute, she had flown them through the DEO and into the med bay. Alex rocked a bit on her feet, steadying herself as Kara tried to settle Lena on the exam table. But Lena would have none of that. She let out a shriek, clinging to Alex even as she was half-lying on the cool metal table.

“Shhh, honey, it’s okay. We’re gonna take care of you, I promise,” Alex cooed gently. Seeing she had a firm grip on Lena, Kara let go and moved to grab a pair of gloves for Alex as well as a cart filled with the emergency essentials, including sedatives and pain meds. “Key code 01K7A5. The vial on the top left,” Alex rattled off calmly, not taking her eyes off of Lena as she stroked her hair gently. Kara quickly keyed in the code for the medicine compartment and grabbed the vial. “Alcohol wipes are on the left side, first small drawer. There should be an IV kit in there.” She held out one hand behind her as Kara handed her the items. Kara watched as Alex effortlessly cleaned Lena’s hand and, barely needing to glance, pushed the needle into the back of her hand. Lena cried out, but Alex held her still enough as Kara attached the vial with the sedative and pushed the plunger down. Within two minutes, Lena’s breathing slowed and her eyes began to droop. 

“What happened, Lexi?” Kara asked, her lower lip beginning to tremble. She had  _ not _ been prepared for this. She was expecting a nice weekend with lots of snuggles from Yeyu and her Sissy. She wanted Chinese food and princess movies and playing pirates with Ruby. She wanted footie jammies and dress-up clothes. Instead, she got her best friend lying in a hospital bed looking like she lost a fight with a Kryptonian. Now that the adrenaline was leaving her, Kara found herself dangerously close to a drop of her own.

“Kara, honey, don’t drop yet. Sissy can’t help you right this second. I’ve gotta help Lena, see?” Alex’s voice immediately shifted, just the right combination of stern yet gentle, loving but authoritative, that made Kara want to be a good girl and listen.

“What’s wrong with her?” Kara asked, twisting from side to side and fiddling with her cape just for  _ something _ to do. She needed to soothe herself and the swaying felt nice, as did her cape between her thumb and forefinger. Her voice was plaintive and needy, bordering dangerously close to whining. Yeyu wouldn’t like that.

“She got hurt by some mean people, but I’m going to fix her. That’s what I do, isn’t it?” While Kara stimmed to try and quell the feeling of desperation rising in her chest, she watched as Alex cut off Lena’s clothes with scissors. They were bloody and her entire torso was covered in bruises and scrapes and scratches. Kara tried to suppress her gasp. “She’s gonna be okay, remember Kara? It looks bad now because I haven’t gotten to clean it up or look at it yet. She’ll be good as new soon, okay?” Turning to grab some gauze from the cart, she saw Kara.

“Sissy, don’t let her die,” Kara whimpered, eyes swimming with tears.

“Oh, sweetheart,” Alex sighed. Kara was fully dropped. “You remember how to call Yeyu?” Kara nodded. “Okay, can you go to my office and do that? You know where my office is, yeah? And the buttons for the lights and the sounds and where I keep the heavy blanket?”

“Don’t wanna leave her,” Kara said, her voice a broken cry. “Lena’s my best friend, I love her.”

“I know you do, honey, I know. I promise I’ll take good care of her, but if I’m gonna do that, I need to know you’re somewhere safe and calm and that Yeyu is coming. Can you help me with that? Be my brave girl?”

“O-kay,” Kara cried. She spared one last look at Lena, who winced as Alex squirted the cold blue gel on her belly and rolled the ultrasound wand over her, and took off towards Alex’s office. As soon as she got in there, she turned the regular lights off and put on the projector that showed her the stars as they looked from Krypton. (It had taken ages to get it just right, exactly to Kara’s memory, especially since Alex wanted it to be a surprise.) She’d equipped her office with white noise machines as well and currently Kara set them to play quiet rain sounds. Kara changed into a pair of soft leggings and one of Sam’s National City University sweatshirts and grabbed the weighted blanket from behind Alex's desk. Then she wrapped herself in it like a human burrito and laid sideways on the couch, facing the cushions. She pressed the phone to her ear as it dialed Yeyu.

“ _ Hey, little bear! You’re late, and Alex too! Where are my two favorite girls?” _ Sam said warmly, clearly not really upset that they were running late. Since getting rid of Reign, they’d discovered Sam had kept her powers. After spending some time training to control them, Sam had reemerged in the public sphere as Power Girl, a superhero to fight alongside Supergirl when needed, though she was much less of a presence than the original Girl of Steel.

“Yeyu, I need you,” Kara whimpered.

“ _ Kara, what happened? Are you somewhere safe? _ ” Sam asked immediately, voice harder now.

“Sissy’s office. She called and—and—and—Lena got hu-urt,” Kara said, dissolving into sobs. “Brought them here and now I’m in Sissy’s office… but Lena is bleeding… and crying… and  _ little _ .”

“ _ Oh, no, honey _ ,” Sam sighed. “ _ I’ll be there in five minutes, okay? Let me just tell Ruby I need to run out and I’ll come get you, okay? Oh, god, poor Lena, _ ” she added softly, more to herself than anyone else.  _ “Do you want me to stay on the phone and talk to you until I get there? _ ” 

“Unh-unh,” Kara said, shaking her head even though Yeyu couldn’t see it. “Got my rain sounds and stars.”

“ _ Okay, my little starcatcher. You stay put and I’ll be there in two shakes of a lamb’s tail, got it? _ ” Kara giggled at the silly saying and nodded.

“‘Kay.” She waited until Sam hung up before shifting her position so she could lay and look up at the stairs. She settled the blanket over her, letting the comforting weight and even pressure soothe her as she traced constellations in her mind’s eye, counting the stars and remembering the stories.

She had just gotten to a hundred (after starting over a few times) when there was a gentle knock on the door.

“Come in,” she called, suddenly exhausted. Now that she had calmed her body down, she was tired, yawning and rubbing her eyes when Yeyu came in.

“Hi, sweet girl,” Yeyu whispered, sitting on the edge of the couch. “Hug or no hug?” Sam asked, careful not to touch Kara. Sometimes, Kara needed the deep pressure of a tight squeeze from Sam after a panic attack, but sometimes the touch of another person was enough to send Kara right back over the edge into an overstimulated panic attack, so Sam and Alex and Ruby had learned to check first, always.

“Hug, please?” Kara whispered, her voice soft and unsure even as she sat up for the hug. Immediately Sam opened her arms and leaned into Kara, holding her as tight as she could. Kara hooked her chin over Sam’s shoulder and used it to pull her closer, detangling her legs from the blanket so that it pooled on her lap as she wrapped all of her limbs around Sam, pulling her as close as possible. She needed every sense to be filled only with Sam. No hospital disinfectant or coppery blood.

As she always did, Sam waited until Kara started to pull away before loosening her grip. Sam did the same thing with Ruby ever since she was little, hoping that it would help reassure Ruby that her affection and need for contact wasn’t a burden. Thankfully, Ruby never seemed to feel that, though it was clear that Kara did. Little Kara was generally easygoing and friendly, but when she’d first started dropping with Sam, she had been worried about asking for hugs. As a six year old in headspace, Kara never wanted to seem like a baby, and she didn’t want her Yeyu to get upset with her for being too clingy. It wasn’t until little Kara had her first panic attack with Sam that she discovered Kara’s intense need for physical affection (though her overstimulation did make that impossible sometimes).

“Do you want to talk about it?” Sam asked, keeping her arms loosely around Kara’s waist. Kara stayed close, still half in Sam’s lap as she played with the ends of Sam’s hair, and shrugged. “Well, I will be here if or when you decide you want to talk, okay? Yeyu always has listening ears for you.”

“Is Lena okay?” Kara asked, glancing up at Sam.

“I’m not sure,” Sam said honestly. “I came straight here. We can go check, if you want? But you know what? I bet your Sissy has already finished getting Lena all cleaned up with new bandages on and some nice medication so she doesn’t hurt. That’s what Alex does, right? She takes care of people?” Despite Alex’s field experience and badass reputation, she was like the den mother of the DEO. Whenever one of Alex’s people got injured, she would give them a checkup in addition to whatever workup the medbay staff gave. If it was Kara or Sam who was injured? Alex wouldn’t let anyone else touch them unless she said so. She brought in donuts when Kevin and his wife were separating and sent flowers on the anniversary of the death of one of her team members to their grave. She bought birthday and celebration cards in bulk and kept them in the staff room for staff birthdays and parties. Alex’s caring, motherly instinct had always been strong.

“Yeah, I know,” Kara sighed. She finally looked up at Sam through her lashes. “Can we go check, though?”

“Of course, little bear.” Kara stood first before allowing Sam to join her. As they walked, Kara clung to Sam’s hand and kept her eyes trained on the ground. It was nothing unusual to see a little Supergirl walking through the DEO clutching Alex or Power Girl’s hand. Nor was it strange to see her out of the super suit in comfy clothing, but when Kara was tired and worn out from a panic attack or sensory overload like that, she got shy.

As they got closer to the medbay, Sam felt her phone buzzing in her pocket. Furrowing her brow at the name staring back at her, she picked up. “Hey, Sergeant Sawyer. What can I do for you?” she asked. It had been awkward, of course, to meet Alex’s ex, the one who broke her heart. But, they were both adults and their paths often crossed through work. Since ending things with Alex, Maggie had been promoted to sergeant and coordinated directly with the DEO for the NCPD science division. When Power Girl came onto the scene, she met Maggie at a crime scene. Alex awkwardly introduced them to each other, her ex and her current girlfriend (now fiancee). It had been over a year since they’d met, and Power Girl had shared her number with the sergeant, but it was unusual for Maggie to call Sam as opposed to Kara or J’onn, or even Alex.

_ “Hey, Power Girl, sorry to call so late. Are you with Supergirl by any chance?” _ Sawyer asked.

“Uh, yeah, but she’s not exactly in a hero frame of mind right now. Is there an emergency?”

Maggie sighed. “ _ Well, no. It’s just I got calls about a young woman being brutally attacked by a group of ‘big, nasty alien thugs.’ _ ’” Sam could hear the air quotes Maggie was undoubtedly making. “ _ And then we got here and there’s a lot of blood and everything, and witnesses report a woman stopping to help the victim, then Supergirl flying them both away. I had my people check every hospital in the city and surrounding area, but we can’t find any victims for this. We need to talk to that good samaritan, too. See if she knows anything. I was hoping Supergirl could tell us where to find them.” _

Sam knew it made sense that Maggie’s team would be called in. If there was a group of supposed extra-terrestrials attacking a civilian, the NCPD would need to respond and their science division was the most equipped to deal with this kind of call, especially since Maggie coordinated with the DEO. Sam understood the importance of being able to take witness statements from Alex and from the victim, Lena, but as she approached the medbay, Sam tried to figure out how to explain why this wasn’t a good time.

“Yeah, I actually know where they are. The good Samaritan and the victim, I mean,” Sam said carefully. Through the glass walls of the medbay, she watched Alex carefully tuck a strand of Lena’s hair behind her ear so she could shine a light in her ear. “But I don’t think the victim can talk to you right now.” Lena’s eyes were open, yes, but she was still sedated. “She’s a little out of it and on pain meds.”

“ _ We just need to know where to find them, _ ” Maggie said again. “ _ I can send my people there in the morning to talk to the victim, but we need to get the good Samaritan's name, contact information, and statement. _ ”

“It was Alex. The good Samaritan,” Sam sighed. Kara looked up at her, brow furrowed in concern. “It’s alright, love bug. It’s just a work call. Can Mommy go over here to keep talking? And you can stay here and keep an eye on Sissy and Lena?” Sam whispered. Kara pouted, but nodded and let go of Sam’s free hand, allowing her to go a few yards down the hall to finish the conversation.

_ “Everything okay?” _ Maggie asked when Sam came back. 

“It’s… complicated. It would be much easier to bring you here and explain.” Sam looked over at Alex who was now entering information into her tablet to update Lena’s chart.

“ _ Oh, alright. I guess that works. Just me or can I bring two uniformed officers? _ ” 

Sam’s answer was immediate. “Just you. Be there in five.”

“ _ Got it.” _ Maggie hung up without saying goodbye. Sam jogged back over to Kara.

“Why do you have to go?” Kara asked sadly as soon as Sam got back.

“It’ll only be a couple of minutes, little bear. I’m going to go get Maggie so she can help catch the people who did this to Lena. You’re going to come in here and sit on the bed next to Lena so you can keep an eye on her for me, then I’ll be back before you even miss me,” Sam promised, leading Kara into the medbay. Despite knowing Kara could hop up or even float herself up if she wanted to, Sam picked Kara up and set her on the empty exam table, turned to face Lena and Alex. “Babe, Maggie called about this case. Said she needed to ask Supergirl where to find the victim and you, the good Samaritan who stopped to help. I told her I’d come grab her. This seems like something we should explain in person, right?”

“Oh God, yeah,” Alex said immediately. She lowered her voice and came closer to Sam, tablet propped up on her forearm as she paused in her typing. “When I got there, it was clear that Lena was a dropped little. She was so little she couldn’t even talk. She had peed herself at some point, and when I was working on her bandages, she peed herself again. I don’t think she’d want people to find out like this.”

“She doesn’t want people to find out at all,” Kara pointed out helpfully, swinging her legs and gently kicking the underside of the table.

“Of course she doesn’t,” Sam and Alex muttered in unison. They shot each other a grin and chuckled, though it was weak, considering the circumstances.

“Okay, go get Maggie and bring her here. She’s got clearance and she’s signed all of the NDAs,” Alex said. Sam nodded, quickly kissing Kara’s cheek as she flew out. She returned in under three minutes with Maggie Sawyer in her arms, putting her down quickly as she landed around the corner, out of sight of the medbay.

“Why aren’t we going to see the victim?” Maggie raised an eyebrow.

“It’s Lena,” Sam said bluntly. Maggie opened her mouth, then closed it, then opened it again. 

“Luthor?”

“That’s the one.”

“Okay, but I still don’t totally understand why she couldn’t be brought to a hospital,” Maggie pointed out. Sam sighed, feeling guilty for what she was about to do.

“Lena is a little. Unregistered. She hasn’t taken the test yet, but she actively drops, I think. I never had confirmation before today, but I know that she is currently dropped. Sedated, but dropped.” 

Maggie narrowed her eyes as if wondering whether or not Sam was telling the truth. “Lena Luthor… is a little? An actively dropping little? With no caregiver or support system, it sounds like.”

“Basically, yes. You understand now why we wanted to keep this private? Give Lena the opportunity to tell people she’s little on her own time and in her own way rather than letting her out herself like this when she can’t make the choice,” Sam explained. While Sam didn’t agree that Lena needed to keep this secret, she did respect that it was Lena’s choice. Neither she nor Alex would be the one who took that from her.

“Of course,” Maggie agreed. “It worries me a bit, but I’m sure you guys will take care of her. Anyway, I can’t take an official statement until she’s lucid and not drugged anyway. I’ll just wait for her to age up, too. However, I do need documentation of her injuries. Do you guys have the stuff here to do that?” Sam gave her a look. “Who am I kidding?” Maggie snorted. “Of course you do. Can we go in? You and I can help Alex take the pictures and I’ll bring them to my precinct to start an investigation.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ummmmm... sorry? This just felt like a good way to force Lena to reveal herself to Alex and Sam because she's too stubborn to do it any other way. Let me know what you think!


	4. Chapter 4

It took nearly an hour and a half to finish documenting everything, even with all three of them. Though, to be fair, Alex and Sam had to take turns stepping away to soothe an increasingly cranky and exhausted Kara in the next bed over. Kara refused to leave the medbay, intent on keeping Lena safe and in her sights. However, she also refused to sit there by herself and cried silently for the first five minutes of their examination until Sam looked up and noticed the tears streaming down her face. They’d tried coaxing her back to Alex’s office, offered her blankets and Netflix and music, anything to get her to calm down and focus. Panic drops were always stressful, but having two littles currently in panic drops would certainly present some problems for the women.

But finally, they were finished. As Alex signed off on the paperwork to maintain chain of custody, Maggie approached Kara and reached out to put a hand on her shoulder, pausing until Kara nodded slightly. “Hey, kid Danvers, you know you did a great job, right? You brought Lena somewhere safe and you made sure that she was safe while we were trying to fix her, um, her booboos? Her owies? Whatever.” Maggie cleared her throat a little awkwardly. “You did your job. You kept her safe, and she’s going to be okay. Alex said no major injuries, right? So, you can go to bed and rest! Lena is safe and you did a great job protecting her.” Maggie had always been rather awkward with Kara when she was dropped, even when she and Alex were dating. Maggie was more of a dominant person, though she was classified as a switch. She had no interest in taking care of a little or a child, one of the biggest differences that drove a wedge between her and Alex. In this moment though, Alex was grateful that she was trying.

“Maggie’s right, little bear,” Alex said gently, placing the clipboard down. “Lena is safe and you can rest. When Yeyu brings Maggie back, she’s going to get our car and then we can go home so you can rest. You did great and I’m very proud of you.”

“Thanks,” Kara sniffled, rubbing her eyes sleepily. “Who’s staying with Lena?” Alex and Sam shared a quick look to confirm, both nodding firmly.

“Lena is coming home with us, baby,” Sam said. “Alex is a doctor, so she can take care of her and you and I can keep her safe.”

“Ruby too?” Kara yawned.

“Ruby too,” Alex grinned. “Now, say bye-bye to Maggie for tonight.”

“Bye-bye, Maggie,” Kara said as her eyes closed. She stayed stubbornly sitting upright, clutching at the edge of the exam table as if it would keep her upright. Alex bid her ex goodbye and made sure she had the proper paperwork before trying to ease Kara back into a lying down position on the exam table so she could be more comfortable. 

On the way back from dropping Maggie off, Sam picked up a few pizzas to make up for the missed dinner. She returned to the DEO in her civilian clothes to find Kara snoring softly on the exam table and Lena still out cold. She looked so small under the bandages and IV drips. Alex sat between the two beds on a stool, one hand holding each woman’s hand and rubbing circles on the backs of their hands.

“Ready, babe?” Sam whispered, startling Alex. “Sorry.”

“‘S okay. Just kind of… tired.” Alex released Kara’s hand to rub at her temple as if fending off a migraine. “I’m starving. Can we grab something to eat on the way home? Kara said she ditched the takeout when I called her.”

“Pizza is in the car already,” Sam said with a grin. “Should I wake Kara up to walk to the car with us?” Through unspoken agreement, both women agreed that Sam would carry Lena to make sure Alex didn’t aggravate Lena’s injuries by readjusting her grip to give aching muscles a break. Alex was strong enough to carry Kara, but if she was exhausted and fighting off a headache, her energy would be better saved for whenever the sedatives wore off and Lena started to wake up.

“Probably best,” Alex said guiltily.

“She’ll be okay. We’ll let her have a slice of pizza in the car to make up for it.” Normally, they didn’t allow Kara to eat messy foods in the car, especially when they had the DEO SUV, as they did tonight. Normally they restricted her to crackers and dry cereal, but they weren’t above bribing her to get her to walk to the car herself tonight.

Alex shook Kara’s shoulder lightly to start waking her up. “Kara, sweetheart, time to get up. You can hold my hand, but you have to walk.”

“No,” Kara whined, squeezing her eyes shut and pursing her lips, curling in on herself. “You carry me.”

“Sissy is very tired, sweetheart. She can’t carry you,” Sam said firmly. “I need to carry Lena to the car, so we need you to be a big girl and walk yourself to the car.”

“Lena’s coming over?” Kara said sleepily, pulling herself into a sitting up position. 

“Yes, she is. She got hurt and she needs some help taking care of herself, so she’s going to sleepover tonight. We have pizza in the car and you can have one slice on the way home if you walk yourself to the car like a big girl, okay?” Alex said, squeezing Kara’s shoulder.

“Pizza!” Kara squealed, jumping to her feet. “I want…  _ ten _ pieces! Can I have ten pieces? I’m so hungry, Yeyu. Please, please,  _ please _ ?” Kara clasped her hands together and batted her eyes at Sam, who was focused on disentangling Lena from the sheets on the medbay exam table while also keeping her covered despite the clothes they’d had to cut off. 

“Ten pieces sounds like too much, Kara. We’ll take it slow and see how it goes, okay? But you can only eat  _ one _ in the car on the ride home,” Sam said as Alex helped wrap the sheets carefully around Lena to keep her mostly covered. Sam tilted Lena so that her face was hidden in an attempt to keep her privacy intact as well. Kara pouted, but took Alex’s hand when it was offered and walked with them to the garage where their borrowed DEO SUV was waiting. Kara sat in the front with Sam, strapped in with the five-point harness used for missions. Lena was in the back, strapped in as well, though they sat her in little Kara’s booster seat for the added cushions. Alex sat next to Lena so that she could keep an eye on her during the trip.

“Pizza now?” Kara asked just as they pulled onto the highway. Sam glanced at Alex in the rearview mirror to nod in confirmation. Alex unbuckled herself to get Kara settled with the pizza. Lena began to stir, but thankfully stayed asleep the entire ride back to their home.

The drive home only took twenty minutes, though it certainly felt much longer to both Alex and Sam. By the time they arrived home, Kara had gotten sauce all over her face and hands and was clamoring for another piece, her exhaustion seeming to fade in the face of pizza. Heading inside, Sam laid Lena out on the couch and covered her in a blanket before joining her family in the kitchen where Ruby had joined them for pizza.

“Aunt Lena’s gonna be okay, right?” Ruby was asking Alex, brows knitted together in worry.

“With time, yes. There’s no major injuries, and she’s still sedated. We’ll certainly help with pain management and keep an eye on her to make sure everything is healing okay, but she should be just fine,” Alex assured her.

“We’re going to take care of her,” Sam agreed. Hopefully, Lena would stay asleep long enough that they wouldn’t have to worry about letting Ruby in on her secret just yet. Sam hoped that they could have a semi-lucid conversation with Lena about a few things, though she doubted that would happen tonight given how deeply Lena seemed to be sleeping. Or rather, at how drugged Lena seemed to be.

“You’re sure she’s okay? She looks pretty roughed up,” Ruby asked before she went to bed. She hovered halfway up the stairs, glancing over her shoulder back towards the living room where she knew Lena was still knocked out, though Sam had been hearing her begin to stir in the last fifteen minutes.

“Alex and I are going to take good care of her. And most of those injuries are just flesh wounds. They’ll hurt, and they look like hell, but she’ll be okay in the long run. Now  _ you _ need to go to bed, missy,” Sam said sternly, waving her daughter upstairs. Kara had been put to bed half an hour earlier, after a quick bath and a story from her Yeyu. Sam waited until she heard Ruby settling into bed before joining Alex in the living room.

“We should give her some kind of painkiller soon,” Alex commented, kneeling next to Lena as she took her pulse, watching as Lena squirmed more, becoming more clearly distressed. “The sedative is wearing off.”

“I’d like to try and talk to her before we do that, if possible. Get her permission to take care of her, y’know? Ask how little she’s feeling, stuff like that.”

“We can try, but she was pretty messed up when I found her. She could barely string more than three words together, stammering. I’m not sure how much we’ll be able to get out of her tonight.” Alex shifted to sit on the end of the couch by Lena’s feet, pulling them into her lap. Lena whined softly and tossed her head back and forth.

“If we don’t get anything out of her, that’s okay, but I still want to try. Also, I think she had another accident,” Sam pointed out. 

“Shit,” Alex hissed, pulling back the sheet still covering Lena to find her fiancee was correct. “I mean, that could be either the sedatives or her being little, to be fair.”

“True,” Sam said fairly, “but it still might be a good idea to try and wake her up and ask if we can put her in some kind of protection for the night.”

“She’s going to hate this.” Alex said it more to herself than Sam, but her fiancee nodded in response regardless. Their conversation was put on hold as Lena began to stir again, eyes fluttering open before falling closed again. Alex and Sam watched with bated breath as Lena seemed to fight against the exhaustion pulling at her to open her eyes, a whine escaping her lips. She tried to stretch but winced sharply and Lena began to whimper, eyes darting around frantically.

“Shhh, relax, Lena,” Sam said soothingly, reaching out as if to touch her before stopping herself. “You’re safe now. Alex and Kara brought you to the DEO to get medical help, but then we decided to bring you back here for the night. Is that okay?” Lena’s mouth opened and closed wordlessly before she whined and screwed her eyes shut in concentration before nodding. Her eyes were unfocused when she opened them again and Sam figured it was likely the low-grade concussion she was suffering from.

“Can you grab my fingers, Lena?” Alex asked, holding out her pointer and middle fingers to Lena. Slowly, Lena reached out to loosely wrap her hands around them. “Good. I want to try something. Can you squeeze my hands once to let me know you understand?” Lena must have squeezed her fingers once because Alex broke out into a smile. “Good girl. Now, I want you to squeeze once for yes… show me that again? Perfect. Now, I want you to squeeze twice for no, alright? Can you show me ‘no’?” Lena gave two quick squeezes. “Oh, my brilliant little girl,” Alex praised without thinking. Lena whined and tears sprang to her eyes.

“You don’t have to hide it, honey,” Sam jumped in. “I figured it out a while ago. You know we love you, right?” Lena’s hands tensed and Sam watched as she squeezed Alex’s fingers once.

“That’s right, we do love you. And we want to take care of you. We can talk about this more another time, but I’m going to ask you a few questions first, okay?” One squeeze. “Good,” Alex beamed. “Now, are you non-verbal because you feel little? Or because it hurts and you’re tired?” Lena hesitated. “Oh,” Alex said quickly. “Once for feeling too little for words, twice for pain.” Lena’s lower lip trembled and she let her eyes fall shut as she squeezed Alex’s fingers only once.

“That’s perfectly alright, sweetheart,” Sam said softly, reaching out to stroke Lena’s hair. “Whether you’re feeling two or twenty four, we’re going to love you and care about you.”

“Exactly. I only asked so I could know how to better help you tonight. Do you remember what happened before you woke up?” Lena frowned, squeezed Alex’s hands twice in quick succession then a third time after a long pause. “Is it like, bits and pieces of memory?” One firm squeeze, accompanied by a whimper. The things Lena could remember made her throat close with panic and her body ache with phantom pains. Alex cooed and Sam hummed softly, stroking her hair and scooting closer to her. “It’s okay, I won’t ask you any more about that right now. Let’s just focus on getting you comfortable for the night. Are you in any pain?” One squeeze accompanied by groaning when Lena tried to shift. “I’m going to give you something for the pain once we’ve got you all settled in, okay?”

“About that, Lena…” Sam said, trailing off for a moment while she tried to figure out how to phrase it delicately so as not to upset her best friend. “You’re clearly feeling very little right now. And that’s okay! We understand. It’s been a really, really traumatic night for you. But, since you’re little, will you be alright if Alex and I take care of you?” Lena chewed her lower lip, but Sam saw her squeeze Alex’s fingers only once.

“Can we help you clean up and put on pajamas? I cleaned up your injuries at the DEO, but we should probably clean off some of the sweat and general grime and… and you had a couple of accidents,” Alex said delicately. Lena’s face blushed bright red and she was looking anywhere but at Sam or Alex. “You don’t need to feel embarrassed about it. You certainly couldn’t help it, considering they happened while you were sedated or actively being attacked.” Lena whined and Alex winced at her own foolishness. “Sorry,” she apologized quietly.

“That being said,” Sam interjected, “we would still like your permission to put you in some kind of overnight protection, like a pull-up or diaper. Is that something we can do for you?” Lena let her eyes close as she mulled it over. Alex would have wondered if she had fallen asleep if she couldn’t see Lena actively worrying her bottom lip before slowly but determinedly squeezing her fingers once. 

“Okay,” Alex said softly, bringing Lena’s hands up to kiss her palms. Lena’s cheeks flushed. “We’ll take care of you.”

“Do you have anything else?” Sam asked. Alex shook her head.

“You?” Sam shook her head. There was nothing else they needed to know right now, and there was nothing they had to tell Lena that couldn’t wait until the morning. “Alright, Lena, we have some pain medicine for you. It’ll make you more comfortable and probably help you sleep. But, we should probably clean you up a bit before you go to bed. Will you be alright with that?” Lena nodded, squeezing Alex’s fingers once, but she whimpered as she did it.

“We’ll be quick,” Sam promised. She picked up Lena to carry her into the bathroom, hoping to keep her from aggravating any of her injuries. Lena clung to Sam’s shoulder with one hand as they walked and to Alex’s hand with the other. Once in the bathroom, Sam filled a small bowl with warm water and soap and grabbed a soft washcloth. She and Alex worked together to keep Lena as covered as possible, slowly revealing only so much skin as they needed to gently wipe clean before covering it back up again. After twenty minutes of slow, gentle strokes with the washcloth, Alex and Sam had successfully cleaned Lena up and gotten her into one of Kara’s emergency diapers (an unopened package they kept around just in case something caused Kara to drop into a younger headspace than usual) and some comfortable fleece pajamas. 

“Alright, Lena, time for medicine now,” Alex said softly, stroking Lena’s hair. They hadn’t bothered to wash it, but Sam did spray it with some dry shampoo and some of Kara’s apple-scented detangling spray before brushing it. Lena whined when Alex stood to leave the room and fetch the medicine from downstairs. She paused, but Sam ushered her on, quickly shifting over to soothe her best friend with shushing noises as she braided her hair. Lena put her thumb in her mouth as Sam played with her hair, taking a few tries to get Lena’s hair into two neat little French braids.

“Such a sweet little thing,” Sam cooed. Lena made small, sleepy noises and leaned into Sam, eyes fluttering closed. Alex returned a moment later with the liquid painkiller.

“Alright, little one, open up. Drink this.” Lena obediently tipped her head back and opened her mouth to allow Alex to tip the drink into her mouth. Lena gagged and tried to spit it up, but Alex quickly shushed her. “I know, I know, it tastes so icky. Please don’t spit it up, Lena. Please swallow it?” A little bit dribbled down Lena’s chin from her failed attempt to spit it up, but she swallowed most of it. Sam wiped her mouth clean.

“Such a good girl. That’ll help you feel so much better. Just relax and let the medicine work, okay?” Sam said. Lena nodded, yawning as she leaned into Alex.

“Time for bed, huh? Too much excitement today,” Alex cooed. Sam picked up the girl again, feeling her breathing start to slow against her. They decided to put Lena in Kara’s bed, moving Kara to the trundle bed they rarely ever used. Sometimes, when little Kara wanted a sleepover with Ruby, the older girl would stay on the bed, but most of the time it was stored underneath the bed. Alex pulled it out while Sam switched the sleeping little girls, putting Lena on the bigger bed with Kara’s toddler rails pulled up, and Kara on the lower bed, tucking her in tight. Kara showed no signs of even recognizing she had been moved; she just snuggled into the covers. They paused a moment to make sure Lena had settled into the bed and fallen asleep before they breathed a collective sigh of relief and headed to their own bedroom.

“ _ Not _ how I planned to spend my Friday night,” Alex remarked as she flopped back onto their bed. Sam couldn’t help but hum her agreement. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the wait! Writer's block was being a buzzkill. Can't promise it won't happen again but I appreciate your comments!


	5. Chapter 5

Several hours later, after Alex and Sam had both fallen asleep, Alex found herself awakened. Blinking and rubbing her eyes, she checked the time to find it was barely one in the morning, so she could go back to sleep. There were no notifications, so that couldn’t be what woke her up. She heard a floorboard creak in the hall followed by their door slowly opening and she realized what had woken her.

“Mom? Alex?” Alex hadn’t been expecting that particular voice to be waking her in the middle of the night, but she could roll with it.

“What’s up, Ruby?” she whispered, rolling over to greet her. Sam, ever the light sleeper, groaned.

“Wha’s up?” she mumbled, still half-asleep.

“Go back to bed,” Alex said, shushing her weak protests. Alex kissed her forehead and climbed out of the bed, leading Ruby back out into the hallway. Sam was asleep again before she had closed the door. In the dim light from the kitchen, Alex stifled a yawn. Ruby shifted her weight from foot to foot, eyes darting back down the hall every few moments. “What’s wrong?” Alex’s voice was flat, preparing herself for the worst. She wasn’t sure what she was expecting, but she knew she had to be prepared.

“It’s Lena. I think she’s crying. I got up to get water and I thought Kara was having a bad dream, so I went in there to sit with her but then I saw she was sound asleep, floating above the trundle bed, but Lena was crying in the bed. I didn’t really know what to do,” Ruby said, fidgeting with her plaid pajama bottoms as if worried she were in trouble.

“Oh, shoot,” Alex mumbled. “Thanks, kid. It’s probably better you didn’t wake her; she’d probably freak. I mean, no offense,” she added quickly, “she’s just… not feeling herself.”

“You mean because she’s little?” When Alex didn’t immediately respond, the teen rolled her eyes. “It wasn’t that hard to figure out. She had on Kara’s fleece lamb pajamas, her hair was in two braids, she was sucking her thumb, and she was clutching one of Kara’s stuffed animals.”

“Yeah, I guess not,” Alex mumbled.

“I won’t say anything to her,” Ruby offered. “I can pretend I didn’t see anything.” Alex heard a whimper come from down the hall.

“We’ll talk about this in the morning. Go back to bed for now. Thanks for getting me,” Alex said, giving Ruby a kiss on the head before hurrying down the hall to Kara’s room. The whimpering and sniffling got louder as she got closer. Alex would be surprised that Kara hadn’t woken up, but she slept like the dead when she was little.

Lena was on her back, legs tangled in the blanket and bed sheets. Her face was pinched up and tears were streaming down her cheeks. As she shifted, squirming and wriggling, the pajama shirt lifted, revealing a strip of nasty bruises on her hip, the dark blues and purplish reds marring her creamy skin.

“Oh, baby,” Alex murmured softly. She quickly pulled the trundle bed farther away from the bed, sliding it out from the tracks and pushing her towards the center of the room. Kara, no longer floating, just grunted and rolled over. With her path to Lena now unobstructed, Alex approached and carefully pulled down the rails. Alex ran her hand over Lena’s sweaty forehead, shushing her whines. “Come here, sweet thing.” She put her hands under Lena’s armpits, pulling her slowly until Lena’s arms were draped over Alex’s shoulders and her head was tucked against her. Lena had started to stir, wriggling closer to Alex as she lifted her under her legs. As soon as she picked her up out of the bed, Lena sighed and leaned heavily against Alex.

“Ow,” she whined sleepily. Alex continued making soothing shushing noises until she and Lena were back down in the living room. She leaned down to deposit Lena on the couch but the little girl whined and clung to Alex.

“You’re okay, you’re okay,” Alex whispered. She lowered herself onto the couch and let Lena lean against her, curled up on her lap with her arms wrapped around her shoulders and her head nestled in the crook of her neck. “I know, it hurts, doesn’t it?” Lena whimpered, acknowledging the question. “Where does it hurt?” Lena made a sound.

“Oh, we’re still feeling very little, I see,” Alex said softly. She felt Lena nod against her neck. “Okay, okay. I can get you some more medicine to make it feel better, and maybe some ice for the spots that hurt the most.” Alex realized Lena was probably still feeling too clingy to be put down, so she stood with Lena and carried her to the kitchen as she retrieved the pain medicine. She shifted Lena to sit sideways on her lap and lean back into the corner of the couch as she measured out the medicine and tilted Lena’s head back before giving her the medicine. Lena coughed as she swallowed and tears leaked out of the corners of her eyes at the sudden, violent motion. “I know, I know.” 

Alex wiggled out from under Lena, resisting the girl’s whine. She looked so small and so sad as she looked up at Alex, eyes red and cheeks pink with dried tear tracks still clear. Some little hairs had come free from her braids and Lena’s thumb quickly moved to play with her bottom lip. Alex leaned forward and kissed Lena’s forehead, taking note of the sticky, clammy, warm skin and making a mental note to grab the thermometer as she grabbed the ice packs. She guided Lena’s hand up until her thumb slipped into her mouth and Lena’s eyes started watering even as she sucked fervently, clearly comforted by the motion.

“It’s okay. I’m going to go grab the ice packs. You stay cozy right here,” Alex promised. She hurried into the kitchen, grabbing as many ice packs as she could find and the thermometer. Alex returned to find Lena sniffling and squirming, face pinched up behind the thumb in her mouth. Alex dropped the ice packs on the coffee table and held up the thermometer. “I’m just going to run this on your forehead because you see a little warm, okay?” Alex felt better narrating everything. Even if Lena wasn’t answering verbally, Alex wanted to be sure Lena understood what was happening. She scanned her forehead and nodded at the slightly elevated temp of 100.3: it wasn’t too high, but they would definitely need to keep an eye on that over the next few days.

“Good, good girl,” Alex praised. “Can I take a look at some of your bruises? I want to see how they’re doing before we put the ice on.” Alex carefully peeled back Lena’s pajamas, taking note of the black and blue patterns coloring her body. Parts of her were covered by large white bandages, covering the scrapes and cuts. Her ribcage and her wrists seemed to be the most bothersome to Lena, though her legs were also mottled with bruises. Alex’s heart clenched at the thought of anyone deliberately harming the sweet little girl in front of her. Alex cupped Lena’s cheek. “Thank you for letting me look. We’re going to change your diaper  _ really fast _ , then get some ice on you, then we’ll get nice and cozy and watch some TV until you fall back asleep, sound good?” Lena’s cheeks flushed.

Alex worked quickly, running to Kara’s bedroom to grab the things she needed before getting Lena clean and dry. It took some wiggling and rearranging of Lena’s position and she whimpered at the strain on her cracked ribs and bruised body. By the time she was redressed in her pajamas and snuggled up, half-propped against the corner of the couch, Lena’s eyes were drooping and her cheeks were sweaty and flushed. Alex wrapped each ice pack before laying it on Lena’s torso. Lena winced at the sudden cold, but Alex shushed her with promises that it would help. Alex laid the last two ice packs on Lena’s wrists that still bore the mark of someone’s fingers before draping a blanket over Lena and tucking her in. She grabbed the remote and another blanket and tucked herself into the couch right next to Lena. Lena immediately started shifting, leaning against Alex. After another few minutes of adjustments and repositioning the ice, Lena sighed and let her eyes close. Alex turned on Netflix and found a nature documentary narrated by David Attenborough. She and Lena were both asleep within minutes.

“No fair!” Kara’s whine was the first thing to wake Alex again some time later. Based on the weight on her chest and the damp cold spots on her body, Lena was still asleep on top of Alex, lukewarm ice packs leaving puddles of condensation all over them both.

“Kara, shhh!” Sam said quickly.

“But why can’t I snuggle with Alex, too?” Kara continued. Alex groaned and shifted. As she did, tingling pains shot through her arm where blood flow was being cut off by Lena laying on top of her.

“See, you’re going to wake them up. Lena and Alex had a rough night, so we want to let them sleep. I’m sure that once they’re awake, you can snuggle.”

“‘M awake,” Alex grunted, opening her eyes. She glanced down to see Lena draped over her, half tucked between Alex and the back of the couch. Her head and one arm were on top of Alex’s arm and chest, one leg wrapped around Alex’s leg. “But Lena isn’t yet.” Lena was snuffling slightly, not quite snoring, but making some kind of noise with each breath.

“Sissy!” Kara cried happily. Lena startled, whining and pinching up her face as she was pulled from sleep. She squirmed a moment before opening her eyes, lower lip wobbling.

“Good morning little one,” Alex whispered, smiling down at Lena. “And good morning, Kara.”

“No,” Lena whimpered, struggling to pull herself into an upright position. Alex quickly helped her sit up before backing off, stretching and shaking out her tingling arm. Lena kept moving until she was on the opposite end of the couch. Lena moved to pull her knees to her chest but inhaled sharply before settling for sitting cross-legged and pulling a pillow into her lap.

“How do you feel?” Alex asked.

“I’m sorry,” Lena cried, fat tears rolling down her cheeks as her eyes quickly grew red. Her fingers dug into the fabric of the pillow. “I’m sorry,” she repeated the sentiment a few more times.

“Why are you sorry, Lena?” Sam asked, coming to sit on the armchair across from the couch, pulling Kara to come sit with her so as not to startle Lena with any sudden movements.

“Bad,” Lena said, choking on the word through her tears. “Not s’posed to be… be…  _ little _ ,” Lena hiccuped, still crying. Alex and Sam shared a look, both trying to determine if Lena was feeling completely big or just bigger than last night.

“Are you still feeling little?” Sam finally asked. Lena went silent, though her lower lip jutted out and wobbled incessantly. Sam sighed and tapped Kara’s thigh. “Little star, why don’t you go see if Ruby is up? Go play in your room for a little bit so we can talk to Lena, okay?”

“But Yeyu,” Kara whined, “don’t wanna go play all by myself.”

“Okay, come on then.” Sam stood. “I’ll go with you and get you all set up and check on Ruby. We’ll just be a couple of minutes,” she added to Lena and Alex. Once they had gone down the hall, it was just Alex and Lena with her soft cries. Alex felt her heart clutch at the sound.

“Does it hurt anywhere?” Alex was desperate to do something to alleviate the younger girl’s pain. Lena nodded, though she didn’t clarify. “Where?” Lena pointed to some of her bruises, her ribcage, and her bruised wrist. “Let me see if I can get you something cold to put on it. It looks like most of the ice packs from last night are kind of room temperature now.”

“No!” Lena cried out as Alex stood, reaching out for her. She bit her lower lip and looked away, clutching tighter at the pillow on her lap.

“Okay, I’ll stay.” Alex sat back down and Lena reached out a hand. Alex scooted closer across the couch until Lena was able to hold her hand on top of the pillow. Lena just stared at their intertwined fingers in silence, breathing slowing and tears abating. “Do you still feel little?” Alex asked after a while. Lena nodded slowly. “How old are you?”

“Free,” Lena said, holding up three fingers. Alex smiled fondly at her.

“Well aren’t you a big girl today!” Lena blushed, avoiding eye contact, but she squeezed Alex’s hand. “Can you tell me why you said sorry when you first woke up?” Lena said nothing for a long moment.

“Didn’t want you to be mad a’cause I’m still little,” she finally said, voice so soft that Alex could barely hear Lena right next to her on the couch.

“Never,” Alex promised. “Kara wakes up little all the time. And you had a rough night, so of course we understand.” Lena didn’t say anything, leaning down to rest her cheek against her and Alex’s intertwined hands. Alex gently caressed her cheek with one finger, content to just sit with Lena until Sam came back.

“Okay, she’s all settled in and playing with Ruby,” Sam sighed as she reentered the living room, moving to sit on the armchair facing Alex and Lena. She paused before sitting “Do you need anything?” she asked, looking back and forth from Alex to Lena.

“Some water, if you don’t mind?” Sam nodded and headed into the kitchen, quickly returning with two glasses of water, though Lena made no moves to grab the offered cup. Sam left it on the coffee table.

“So,” Sam finally said. Lena bit at her thumb nail. Alex tutted and pulled it out of her mouth. Lena made a small distraught noise, so Alex put the water down and ran her free hand through Lena’s hair. “How are you feeling? Besides small, I mean.” Sam wasn’t quite sure where to start and was hoping Alex would take the lead.

“Hurts all over.” Lena’s voice was hoarse, rough with disuse.

“I bet,” Alex acknowledged. “Do you remember what happened last night?” The little girl flinched as if Alex had struck her before nodding. “Okay, do you want to try and talk a little bit about it?” Lena nodded again, but made no moves to start the conversation.

“Should we ask questions? Would that help?” Sam asked after a moment. Lena nodded, eyes trained on her lap. “Okay. Where were you heading last night? Like, right before?”

“Wanted to get dinner.” She sniffed, then added, “I walked to get it.”

“So you were walking to get dinner. Then what happened?”

“Started yelling.”

“Who started yelling, honey?” Alex asked.

“Scary guys.” Lena started to tremble and she gripped Alex’s hand tighter, closing her eyes. “Called me mean names and ran at me. I tried to get away and they hit me and kicked me! I tried to fight but they kept yelling and hurting and—and—and—” Lena’s breathing started to pick up.

“You’re safe now. We’ve got you. You’re safe here,” Alex soothed, scooting closer to Lena. Sam moved to kneel on the floor next to Lena, one hand hovering above her shoulder and the other resting on top of Lena and Alex’s joined hands.

“Can I put my hand on your shoulder, Lena?” Sam asked. She took Lena’s hum as an affirmation and gently rested her hand on Lena’s shoulder, unsure if the area was bruised or sore. 

“You’re safe, sweetheart. I came to help you and so did Kara, remember?” Lena didn’t respond to Alex. “Someone saw you were being hurt, so they called for help. I overheard and I came, then I called Kara. We brought you to the DEO, we patched you up, and we brought you home. But you know who else came to help you?”

“Mnh-mnh,” Lena mumbled, shaking her head. Her nervous breathing had slowed, except for the occasional hitching breath.

“Maggie. You remember Maggie?”

“Put me in j-jail,” Lena sniffled, lifting her head and pouting.

“She did what?” Sam asked, frowning. Alex nodded and mouthed,  _ I’ll explain later _ .

“Yeah, but she apologized after. She was doing her job. But last night, she called us because people saw you were rescued by Supergirl. She came to take some evidence, but she couldn’t talk to you until you were awake and… and feeling bigger,” Alex said gently.

“She knows, too?” Lena’s eyes welled with tears.

“I’m sorry, baby. We had to tell her.”

“Not a baby!” Lena yelled, slamming her free hand into the pillow and scowling at it.

“Okay, poor choice of words,” Alex placated. Normally, Alex and Sam would try and get Kara to use her words as opposed to her fists, but they both recognized that they may be asking too much of Lena at the moment.

“I’m  _ not _ a baby,” Lena repeated. “Not,” she added softly. 

“We know, but it’s not an insult. Kara is our baby sometimes and that’s okay, right?” Lena nodded. “Right. But yes, Maggie does know. We had to tell her why we brought you to the DEO instead of the hospital and why she would need to wait before taking your statement. She swore she would be discreet and once you were ready, she could come take your statement.”

“When?” Lena rubbed at her eyes with the heel of her hands as if trying to wake herself up.

“Once you’re a little more rested and ready for it,” Alex said, gently grabbing Lena’s hand and pulling it from her eyes. She intertwined their fingers and let their hands fall into Alex’s lap.

“I can,” Lena said, eyebrows knitting together and lower lip jutting out. “I can be big,” she repeated, dropping her gaze to their joined hands.

“I believe that you can. I just want you to know that you don’t  _ have _ to right now, not if you’re not ready or if you don’t want to,” Alex said. Sam squeezed her shoulder in support as her friend chewed the inside of her cheeks.

“Lena, if you don’t want to be big yet, you don’t have to,” Sam reiterated. “Maggie will wait. They’ve got other leads they can follow while you get better.” Lena continued to chew on this information and her cheeks for a few agonizingly long minutes. Sam and Alex stayed silent, determined to let her process and decide at her own speed.

“I…” Lena trailed off, mouth open as if trying to force more words out.

“Do you want to be big now?” Alex asked. Lena shook her head and winced.

“Ow,” she mumbled.

“Yeah, no sudden movements, okay ba-sweetheart?” Alex said, quickly correcting herself before she called Lena ‘baby’ again. “Your head got bonked real good so it’ll hurt for a couple days while your brain gets better.” They sat quietly for a few minutes, each woman holding Lena until the sound of Lena’s stomach growling interrupted the quiet.

“My goodness, is that a hungry tiger in your belly?” Sam gasped. Lena looked down to hide her smile. “Well, we should feed the hungry tiger before it comes out looking for some people to eat!”

“Me, me, me! I’m hungry too!” Kara came skidding into the room and Sam quickly jumped up and caught the energetic little Kryptonian tornado with an outstretched arm before she could slide down next to Lena and Alex.

“When aren’t you hungry?” Sam teased, tickling Kara’s sides. The distraction worked and Kara squirmed away from Sam’s teasing fingers, laughing freely.

“Sorry Mom,” Ruby said as she sauntered into the living room. As soon as Lena registered two new people, she stiffened. Unlike Kara, Ruby noticed this. “She’s too quick for me. I can go start some French toast if you’ll make eggs?” Sam agreed, noticing the way Ruby was deliberately avoiding greeting Lena or Alex, who also noticed.

“Let’s get you washed up in some fresh bandages and clothes,” Alex whispered, helping Lena to her feet as she stood. Lena winced at the movement and Alex added administering Lena’s medicine to her to-do list.

“Hi Lena! Yeyu says I gotta be gentle ‘cause you’re hurt, but can I give you a little hug? I promise, promise,  _ promise _ I’ll be gentle!” Kara said, rocking back and forth on her toes. Lena glanced up at Alex, who whispered that it was up to Lena, before looking back to Kara and nodding once. True to her word, Kara was very gentle, loosely wrapping her arms around Lena and just barely resting her chin on Lena’s shoulder. “Sorry you got hurt, Lena,” she said softly.

“‘Kay,” Lena murmured. “‘M okay.” Kara pulled back after a moment, bouncing on her toes now as she beamed at Lena. 

“Yeyu is making  _ French toast _ ,” Kara said. “Her French toast is so, so,  _ so _ good, right Alex?” Sam laughed as Alex agreed that it was  _ definitely _ one of the best things she’d ever eaten before leading Kara into the kitchen. Path now open, Alex led Lena to the guest room where they stored a few cozy outfits for Lena on game nights that go far too long requiring her to stay overnight. The room also, thanks to Sam, had some supplies for cleaning Lena up and changing her bandages. Alex first administered Lena’s medicine, which she had grabbed from the coffee table as they passed it.

“Can I help you get cleaned off, Lena? We wiped you down last night, so you’re not really dirty, but we want to make sure we keep your scrapes all clean and bandaged.” Alex led Lena to sit on the edge of the bed. Lena bit her lip, unsure. “Want me to tell you what I’d do before you decide?” Lena nodded.

Alex picked up the soap they use for Kara when she’s little, lavender scented and made for gentle skin. She also pointed to the basin of water and the washcloth. “I’d fill this up with warm, soapy water. Then I’ll have you sit in the bathroom and I’d start by taking off your shirt. We can give you a towel to wear around you so you don’t get cold.” Lena nodded, cheeks turning pink. She sucked her lower lip into her mouth.

“I’ll take the bandages off one at a time to check on each injury. I’ll wash it and the area around it, then pat it dry. I can put some cream to make it feel better and keep it from getting infected, then I’ll put a fresh bandage on it. Then I’ll do the same thing with your lower half, cleaning and bandaging. Now last night we put some dry shampoo in your air. Do you want me to wash your hair with shampoo and water now? I can do it over the sink,” Alex offered.

“No thanks,” Lena said in a small voice, though it sounded more like “fanks”.

“So polite,” Alex said with a smile. She leaned in and kissed Lena’s forehead. “So once we have you all cleaned and with new bandages, we’ll put you in some comfy clothes. Now,” Alex hesitated. “Now, Lena, you said you’re three today?”

“Yeah!” Lena beamed proudly.

“Yeah, so last night, when you were feeling smaller and you had the medicine, you let us put you in a diaper. Once we get you all clean and ready to get dressed, do you want to wear something again today? A diaper like last night or maybe a pull-up like Kara wears at night sometimes.” Alex hoped that mentioning Kara sometimes wore them would help Lena feel a bit better about the option.

“I don’t… I don’t-”

“You don’t have to,” Alex reminded her. “But you are still on some medications that may make you sleepy. With a pull-up, you have the option to go on the toilet or if you’re sleeping, we don’t have to worry about an accident. It’s up to you.” Lena sighed heavily, looking away. “What’s wrong, sweetie?”

“Don’t wanna,” she whined, rubbing her eyes. Her stomach audibly growled again. Alex recognized the signs of an impending hanger tantrum.

“You don’t wanna wear one?”

“Don’t wanna choose.”

“Oh,” Alex said softly. She knelt down in front of Lena and squeezed her hands. “You want me to choose?” Lena nodded again. “Okay honey, I can do that. But if you change your mind or you don’t like my choices, you tell me to stop, okay? Be my big, brave girl and tell me no. Can you do that for me?” Lena sniffled and nodded. Once again, Alex praised her and kissed her cheek. Lena looked down quickly, cheeks burning. Alex stood and pulled Lena to her feet. “Let’s get started, my love.” With that, she led Lena into the adjoining bathroom.

  
  



	6. Chapter 6

Lena was patient at first, and extremely shy. Alex kept as much of her covered as possible with the towel, only uncovering the parts she was washing. It was a slow process and Lena squirmed more and more as her stomach kept growling. Her eyes grew teary and she tried to stifle her whimpers.

“You’re doing so good, sweetie. So good,” Alex praised constantly. 

“‘M hungry,” Lena whined, kicking her feet.

“Let’s see if Sam can bring us something while we work, okay? Hey, Sam?” Alex called out.

“Smoothies work for now?” Sam asked, immediately entering the room. Alex mused that having a fiancee with super hearing was helpful sometimes. “I brought some for both of you. When you’re ready, we have more food.” Sam left two cups on the edge of the tub. Alex and Sam frequently used smoothies to give Kara enough protein for her Kryptonian metabolism without giving unnecessary sugar.

“Sounds perfect. What flavor today?” Alex smiled at Sam.

“Kiwi, strawberry, kale, and chia seeds. Milk and yogurt to make it creamy. Does that sound good, Lena?” Lena nodded, holding out her hands for the cup. She wrapped both hands around it carefully and Alex longed to hold it for her or give her a cup with a no-spill lid. Thankfully, Sam had thought ahead and put straws in both cups, so Lena was able to drink it more carefully. She sucked it down greedily.

“Slow down, love. We don’t want you to hurt your belly,” Alex said softly, putting a hand on Lena’s wrist and pulling the cup from her lips. Lena whined but didn’t fight it. “Just take a breath between sips, okay?” Sam chuckled and pressed a kiss first to Alex’s head, then Lena’s before going back out to Kara and Ruby. “Nice and slow,” Alex reminded Lena, guiding the cup back up to her lips. Lena took a small sip then pulled it away and looked to Alex, giving her a small smile. “Good, just like that. Can I go back to washing you?” Lena nodded and Alex restarted the process. By the time Lena had finished the smoothie with small sips, Alex was finished with her bandages. She unbraided Lena’s hair and sprayed more dry shampoo.

“Alright Lena, I want you to try and go to the bathroom on the toilet, then I’ll put you in a pull-up. That way you can take it off if you want to,” Alex explained. Lena was bright red from her hair to her chest, but she nodded. “Do you want me to leave?” Lena shook her head fervently, squeezing Alex’s hand. Alex helped her stand, lifting the lid, then sitting back down again. She held Alex’s hand tight and avoided eye-contact while she peed. Alex helped clean her up and step into the pull-up, then into a pair of gray joggers and a long-sleeved pink t-shirt. She recombed Lena’s hair and pulled it into a low ponytail so it stayed out of her face, then pulled socks onto Lena’s feet.

“Food now?” Lena croaked. Alex nodded and grabbed the two cups, though hers was still full. She let Lena take a sip of it before taking Lena by the hand and leading her back out to the kitchen. Lena paused in the hall just before the living room.

“Now Lena, Ruby is in the kitchen and, well… she knows you’re little. She heard crying in the middle of the night and thought it was Kara so she went in to check. When she realized it was you, she woke me up.” Lena whimpered. In a very short time she had gone from absolutely nobody knowing her secret to Alex, Sam, Maggie, Ruby, and god knows who else.

“I know, peanut, and I’m sorry you didn’t get to tell her yourself. But she knows and she’s okay with it. She’s used to Kara being little here, so don’t worry, okay? Ruby is a good kid, and she’s good at keeping secrets. Now, that breakfast smells delicious and I am very hungry. Are you ready to go in?”

“Yeah,” Lena said quietly, staring at the floor. She squeezed Alex’s hand and Alex squeezed it back, leading her into the kitchen. Kara and Ruby were laughing at the table, chowing down on French toast and eggs. There was a plate of each piled high on the table and places set for Sam, Alex, and Lena. Sam was frying up some bacon at the stove.

“I’ll do that, babe. You come eat,” Alex offered, though as soon as she moved towards the stove, Lena tugged on her arm and let out a startled whimper. Sam looked to Lena and smiled sadly.

“I’m good here, Alex. Bacon’s almost done anyway. Why don’t you and Lena get settled and start eating. If you really want to make it up to me, you can do the dishes after breakfast,” Sam suggested. Lena whined again and tucked herself behind Alex when Kara and Ruby looked up at her.

“Hi Lena!” Kara called, waving excitedly. “Look, Yeyu made eggs and French toast and she’s making bacon, too! We had smoothies, did you have some? And there’s milk and juice and water and fruit.”

“Come on,” Alex whispered, gently leading Lena over to the table. Lena was reluctant to move, clinging to Alex’s hand with both of hers and pressing her forehead into Alex’s back, the soft fabric of her shirt soothing her as well as hiding her. “Say hi, Lena,” Alex urged, gently tugging Lena out from behind her but still tucking Lena into her side.

“Hi,” Lena whispered, eyes trained on her hands still clutching Alex’s.

“Hi, Lena,” Ruby said quietly, smiling at her mom’s best friend in what she hopes was a non-threatening manner. “You like eggs, right? We made scrambled eggs, but we can make sunny sides up or even poached!”

“Nuh-uh,” Lena said quietly, shaking her head. “Smoothie.”

“We already had the smoothie, sweetheart. Here, let’s sit. We can try some French toast?” Alex pulled the two chairs closer to each other as she tucked Lena into one chair and pushed it in. She grabbed Lena’s plate and started filling it, scooping some eggs, fruit, and a single piece of French toast. Before she put the plate in front of Lena, she cut the toast into pieces. Lena blushed and stared at the table.

“Lena’s shy,” Kara announced. She turned to Ruby. “Does she not want to be my friend?”

“Kara,” Sam admonished as she came in with a plate stacked high with bacon. “Lena is trying to adjust and is being very brave. We should be patient as our friend settles in, don’t you think?”

“Sorry Yeyu,” Kara muttered, looking down contritely. She glanced back up. “Can I still have bacon?”

“Of course you can. Just let me cut it up first.” The first slice Sam cut up was swept onto Lena’s plate just before Alex handed it over. As Sam worked on cutting up Kara’s bacon, Alex made a second plate for herself. Both women pretended not to notice the furtive looks Lena kept giving them as she started to eat, almost as if she were afraid to be doing so.

The family lapsed back into a comfortable quiet, only the sounds of chewing and forks scraping against plates. Once she had wolfed down her bacon, Kara kept up a steady stream of chatter needing very little interaction from anyone else to keep it going. Everyone generally chimed in at various points, though Lena notably stayed silent.

“Do you want something to drink?” Alex asked after a while. Lena had only picked at the food on her plate, eating about half of each item. She pushed the remaining food around enough to make it convincing, but Alex knew she wasn’t eating it.

“More smoothie?” Lena asked hopefully.

“I don’t know, little one,” Alex said hesitantly.

“Oh, okay,” Lena said dejectedly.

“I just don’t want your belly to hurt,” Alex explained immediately, guilt-ridden for causing Lena to look so sad. “It’s a lot on top of the smoothie you’ve already had, plus the food. How about some juice or water? Or milk?”

“Oooh, Lena, ask for chocolate milk! Yeyu and Alex  _ never _ let me have it, but I bet they’d let you!” Kara exclaimed. She turned to Sam. “Please, Yeyu? Can Lena have some chocolate milk? And me too? Please, please,  _ please _ ,” Kara begged.

“You can have  _ one glass _ ,” Sam said firmly. She turned and made her voice deliberately gentler. “Would you like some too, Lena?”

“Yes please.”

“Look at how polite you girls are with your ‘please’s!” Sam praised. She got up and mixed the chocolate milk, putting both in sippy cups purely out of habit. Kara was far too likely to spill things on herself, even in her oldest mindset. As she went to hand the second sippy cup to Lena, Sam hesitated. “Is this alright, Lena?” Lena just looked to Alex with wide, pleading eyes.

“Yeah,” Alex nodded. “This way we won’t worry about any spills, right? Just like a straw.” Alex made meaningful eye contact with Sam, promising to explain later. Lena took the cup and gave a few experimental suckles. Her eyes widened with delight as the rich, creamy, sweet flavor hit her tongue. “Small sips so you don’t hurt your belly,” Alex reminded her. 

“Or get hiccups,” Ruby added. Lena nodded, though she kept the cup to her lips, holding it with both hands.

“Yeyu, can we put on a movie after breakfast?” Kara asked. “I don’t think Lena has seen all the princess movies yet!” Kara and Ruby both seemed horrified by this realization.

“I think that sounds like a great idea. Why don’t you girls decide which movie we’ll watch first,” Alex said. She noted Lena rubbing her eyes and wondered if she was getting tired again or just overwhelmed. “While you girls do that, I’ll start to clear our plates.” As soon as Alex headed towards the kitchen, she heard the chair scrape the floor as Lena quickly stood and made to follow her.

“Whoa, little duck,” Sam said, holding a hand out. “Easy, easy. Don’t want you to hurt yourself. Nice and slow. Look, we can see Alex in the kitchen from right here. We don’t need to follow her.” Sam said this as gently as possible, but Lena’s eyes still welled up.

“‘M sorry,” she whispered, sitting back down.

“Nothing to be sorry about,” Alex said as she returned to the table for another armful of plates. “Sam and I just don’t want you to hurt yourself, that’s all.”

“Let’s go into the living room and get settled. Did you girls decide on a movie yet?”

“We want to start chronologically, so  _ Snow White _ ,” Ruby piped up as she stood.

“I’ll get the blankets and pillows!” Kara shouted as she took off. Ruby paused near Lena’s chair.

“Hey Lena, want to come sit down in the living room? We’ll still be able to see Alex at the sink and we can leave a spot next to you for her to come sit.” Lena’s cheeks were pink as Ruby spoke to her directly, but she gave a small nod. Ruby beamed as Lena stood. She held out her hand and Lena took it very gently, allowing herself to be led by Ruby into the living room. “Great! We can sit right here. Look, see Alex? She’s right there. Do you want to sit on the floor with me and Kara? She usually gets distracted during movies so we have toys or coloring too.”

“I think that sounds really nice, Rubes. We’ll make a nice, cozy pillow and blanket nest on the ground for us all,” Sam said encouragingly. As if on cue, Kara came and dumped a load of pillows and blankets from the playroom on the ground in front of the TV before disappearing again, upstairs now and fetching the blankets and pillows from her room.

“More please?” Lena croaked out as she finished the last of her milk. She offered the cup to Sam, who hesitated. She usually only allowed Kara or Ruby one glass of milk, but Lena’s big green eyes were wide and still seemed teary as if she was on the verge of crying at any moment. 

“One more, then we switch you to water, okay?” Sam relented. Ruby narrowed her eyes at the unfairness of Lena getting more than she would get but wisely said nothing. As Sam went into the kitchen, Ruby started laying out the blankets.

“Hey Lena,” she said quietly after a moment. Lena hummed. “I’m sorry you got hurt, but I am glad you’re part of our family, whether you’re feeling big or small.” Lena didn’t know what to say, so she reached out and squeezed Ruby’s hand. Ruby squeezed it back three times in quick succession. At Lena’s furrowed eyebrows, she explained, “three squeezes means I love you. See? I—” she squeezed her hand once— “love—” once more— “you!” she squeezed it again. Lena seemed deep in thought before squeezing Ruby’s hand back three times. Ruby beamed at her. “Yeah, exactly!” At that moment, Sam chose to return with Lena’s milk as Kara came down the stairs toting more blankets.

“Ooo, I want more milk! Please, Yeyu?” Kara asked, watching as Lena cradled the sippy cup to her chest. Ruby took the blankets as Kara dropped them and continued arranging a comfortable space for them on the floor where Kara could easily play or color when she grew bored with the movie.

“Sorry little star, not right now. Why don’t you help Ruby make it nice and cozy?”

“No fair,” Kara whined. “Lena gets another cup!” Lena stared at the ground, ears and cheeks burning bright. She hadn’t meant to start a fight. 

“Kara, do not whine. If you’d like, you and I can go upstairs to do something else while the others watch a movie,” Sam said calmly.

“No!” Kara stomped her foot and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Come here please,” Sam said firmly, pointing to her side. Ruby ignored the exchange as she settled herself against some pillows and started scrolling through her phone. Lena felt her chest grow tight. Kara just groaned and trudged over to Sam, who pulled her a few feet away by the elbow and bent in close to whisper to her. Lena’s stomach knotted, certain they were talking about her.

“Hey, Lena, come here. I want to show you this new game I got. It’s a little bit like a puzzle. Wanna help me solve it?” Ruby offered up her phone as a distraction. Nodding hesitantly, she scooted over closer to Ruby and leaned against her side. As Ruby explained how they had to try and move the balls into different tubes with only the same color, Sam reminded Kara that she and Lena were different little girls with different needs. Kara needed more protein, so she got extra smoothies while Lena could only handle one at a time. Lena was going through a rough time, so she could have a second cup of milk today as a treat, just like Kara sometimes got treats when she was very sad. Once Kara seemed to understand, she dashed off to grab some of her toys before returning to the living room floor.

“Everything alright?” Alex asked, finally done with the dishes. Sam joined her on the couch and nodded.

“Kara was just upset because I let Lena have a second cup of milk but she only got one. We’re all good now, though. Reminded her that she and Lena need different things to be happy and healthy,” Sam explained as she opened the Disney app on the TV and pulled up  _ Snow White _ .

“Good. I think Ruby and Kara will hopefully help her come out of her shell a bit,” Alex said softly. They watched as Ruby helped Lena down to the floor and made herself comfortable leaning against the couch in front of Alex. Alex reached down and caressed Lena’s cheek, smiling when she leaned into Alex’s touch. Ruby draped a blanket over Lena’s lap and Lena pulled a pillow into it, hugging it tight and pressing her chin into it.

“Okay, I got my stuffed animals and my trains and my picture books ‘cause you like to color, right? My art box has pencils and markers and crayons and even paint! But we can only use paints when we’ve got smocks and stuff to cover the table, right Yeyu?” Kara paused only long enough to look back and Sam and nod decisively. She dropped a large fabric container stuffed with soft toys and plastic trains, then sped off in a puff of air to grab her art box and coloring books.

“Kara, what’s the rule about running in the house?” Alex said sternly.

“Not to,” Kara sighed, plopping down onto the ground. “I just wanted to get the stuff to show Lena! I think she’ll like these toys the most. See, Lena? My stuffies are nice and soft and snuggly, and you like trains and coloring!” Lena took the stuffed cat that Kara held out to her and stroked it. She suddenly remembered she had a bear of her own and a blanket hidden at home. Lena wanted them desperately.

“Oh, why are you sad, Lena? Is it ‘cause it’s not your teddy?” Kara asked suddenly. Lena whimpered, taken aback by the sudden reminder that she was feeling very small, surrounded by people who now knew her secret, and without her favorite comfort items.

“I…” Lena trailed off with a squeak. Her tears came thick and fast.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Alex said quickly, reaching down. Sam reached down and scooped her up, pulling her onto her lap so that Lena’s legs were draped over Alex’s lap. Lena whined and cried, burying her face in Sam’s shoulder. “What’s going on, love?”

“I’m sorry,” Kara said softly. “I didn’t mean to make her cry.” She looked mournfully at Ruby.

“She knows that,” Sam assured her. “I think Lena is maybe still a little overwhelmed. It’s been a lot, hasn’t it? And it’s even harder if you don’t have your teddy with you, huh?” Lena nodded, letting out a whimper. Her lower lip trembled violently as she tried to stop herself from crying.

“I know where it is. I can get it!” Kara offered, standing. Ruby grabbed her wrist.

“No, Kara,” Alex said.

“Yeah!” Lena cried at the same time. She turned to Alex, lower lip already jutting out.

“Kara, tell me where it is and I’ll get it,” Sam clarified. She shifted Lena to Alex’s lap and listened to Kara’s instructions of where to find the lock box and key in Lena’s apartment. She took off and was back with both items within moments, unlocking the box and handing Lena the teddy bear and ragged pink blanket. 

“What do you say, baby?” Alex said encouragingly once Lena’s sobs had calmed and she lifted her face from her comfort items.

“Not a baby,” she mumbled to Alex. Then she turned to Sam. “Thank you.” Sam had to hold in a coo at how Lena’s ‘th’ sounded more like an ‘f’. Kara was rarely small enough for that particular speech quirk and Ruby had outgrown that midway through pre-k.

“Okay, now that we’re all settled and comfy, let’s start the movie. Lena, do you want to sit on the ground so you can play or color with the girls or stay up here?”

“Here with you,” Lena said softly, snuggling into Alex’s side. Both women inhaled sharply and felt warmth spreading through them. When asked later, Alex wasn’t completely able to explain it. She would only be able to say that she felt nothing but love in that moment. Love bundled up with a fierce desire to protect Lena and keep her safe. Alex tightened her grip around Lena’s waist and Lena sighed happily. Wrapped in Alex’s arms, Lena felt safe and loved in a way she never had before. And even though Ruby and Kara picked this movie specifically because Lena had never seen it, Lena closed her eyes and let Alex’s heartbeat lull her to sleep.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> If anyone wants more, I do have some more written in this fic. Let me know if you liked it because I'm very nervous posting this kind of stuff.


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